Life Blood
by Anime WarriorSkye
Summary: Integra's search for an heir is resolved one day when her pet vampire brings home the daughter of her illegimate half-sister. Meanwhile, a new Knight of the Round Table brings new developments to light and terrorism rears its ugly head.
1. First Time For Everything

Skye: Hallo! This is my first Hellsing fanfiction. Please be kind and don't expect the chapters to always be this long.

Disclaimer: The only person I own is Aeryn. Other than that, I own nothing, not even my own ass, which is a fairly nice one.

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Aeryn frowned as she ran, combat boots slapping the ground as her ruby hair whipped in the wind. Dead leaves and twigs tangled themselves in the lengthy tresses, forming an earthly tiara round her head. _This is not one of my better days_, she thought to herself as she tore through the underbrush.

Dodging an incoming kick, she swept the first assailant's support leg, causing him to hit his head off a tree trunk and fall unconscious. His partner hesitated for a split second, leaving a perfect opening for Aeryn to knee his groin and slam him against the tree, knocking him out. She caught her breath as he slid to the ground and walked away, pulling out the natural debris gathered in her hair. She felt that this many attacks in a week were quite unfair.

After all, Aeryn Robin Thanatos was only seven years old.

More men would be coming for her; she knew it. People found the abilities she inherited from her family to be quite short of human and scientists longed to get their hands on her. The clearing up ahead seemed to be huge and there were bound to be dozens of hiding places. Aeryn sped up, constantly checking over her shoulder and around to ensure she was not being followed. Her mouth dropped open as she reached it.

A large, impressive manor house towered over the open landscape. Although it was dilapidated and abandoned, it held an impressive aura. It seemed to have been a military base. A rundown sign about the size of a large billboard read '_**The Hellsing Organization**_'.

Shaking off her fear momentarily, Aeryn went through the gates and slipped inside the door, closing it behind her. She tiptoed down the dank, cold corridor, shivering as the wind blew through the cracks in the metal.

"Is anyone here?" she called, answered by an echo. The trepidation returned, surrounding her and the building like a cloth hood draped over the head of a death row prisoner just before execution. She could not bring herself to take another step until the footfalls of the soldiers sounded and she had to for safety.

A long, rickety staircase led down to the basement. Shutting the door behind her, she began the time-consuming walk down, the temperature dropping with each stair. At the end of the staircase was a door with a candle and a packet of matches on the ledge beside it. With trembling fingers, Aeryn lit the candle and the door creaked open. When she went through, it immediately swung shut again. As she went a little farther, she nearly dropped the light at the sight she saw.

A dead body leaned against the wall in a sitting position, clad in a black leather straitjacket. Its long white hair hung limply in the windless room. As far as cadavers go, the body was dry and skeletal; nothing rotting to stink up the room, so she assumed it was a well-behaved stiff that just wanted to be left alone in its quiet existence.

"Hullo," she said cautiously as she kneeled down next to it, never taking her cobalt eyes off of the head. She had no idea of the proper etiquette to greet the dead, so she assumed you greeted them the same way as the living. "Sorry to disturb you, but I have to hide here for a bit. Do you mind?"

It gave no answer, with it being a corpse and all. She sat, placing the candle beside her and hugged her knees to her chest. Her head drooped as the wick burned low, mumbling phrases as she slept.

"...only living relative…"

"…last hope…"

"…mother's sister Integral…"

"…needs a biological heir…"

"…they'd take care of me…"

Her head jerked up abruptly at pattering, but it was only the wind blowing a piece of metal against the wall.

"I don't want to die." she said softly, a few tears making their way down her face and dripping onto the floor. Though frightened, somehow she managed to go back to sleep.

The thump of the soldier's boots on the staircase woke her. She flattened herself against the wall, blowing out the candle and plunging into total darkness. As the door was opened, a breeze blew into the room, making the corpse's hair float and its clothes rustle.

"What the hell?" The soldier who had just entered the room called to his companion. "There's a corpse in here, Jim."

"Don't mind it, Gregory. How can a dead body be so much trouble? Easier to deal with than that little brat the boss wants." Jim joined his friend.

"I dunno, but I've got a funny…" Gregory's voice trailed off as the body began to sway wildly back and forth. All of a sudden, it rose to its feet and tore off the head of Jim before he could even notice Aeryn. A long, pink tongue darted out and licked up the blood.

It reached for Gregory as he threw his gun at it. This missed, but hit Aeryn hard on the head. She blacked out, but not before hearing his tortured and final scream.

In the library of Hellsing Manor, Seras Victoria, started loudly. Her head jerked up as the book in her hand fell to the floor. After standing there and evaluating for a few moments, she sped out of the room and down the staircase, shouting so loudly that the foundations of the house shook.

"WALTER!"

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"A kid?" said Pip Bernadette skeptically as he stared at Integra. "What the hell would _une petite fille_ be doing in the basement of the old building?"

"We do not know that presently," replied Walter, polishing a silver cigar case. He reached up and adjusted his monocle. "Alucard went into that building purely for his own reasons. He let himself dry up and had no blood for three weeks. This is not uncommon behavior for him; he had done it when your father was alive, Sir Integra, but only for fancy and nothing like this had ever happened."

He paused. "What's remarkable is the restraint that he showed in not hurting the child."

"Have you really that little faith in me, angel?" Alucard laughed lightly, phasing through the wall. "I can easily tell the blood of a virgin Hellsing apart from any other human."

"She's a Hellsing?" Integra snapped to attention and the others gasped.

"Yes. Aeryn Robin Thanatos Hellsing. That's what it says on the luggage." Walter gestured to a small, worn duffel bag in the corner of the office. "And the deliverymen gave us her papers, too." He set a large file on the desk.

Integra shuffled through the papers. Seras peeked over her shoulder. "Passport, medical exams, dental records…they're all here except for the birth certificate. I think that she really is your niece, sir."

"I do recall you having a sister, Sir Integra. She was an illegimate child; no one knows what happened to her. Her name was Cecilia. Your father never wanted you to know." Walter shook his head. "He was a great man, but quite the womanizer."

"Wonderful." Integra sighed. "At least the knights will get off my back about marriage since an heir is present. Where is she, Walter?"

"She's outside." Walter put down the cigar case. "Our doctors have examined her and she only sustained a mild concussion from the gun striking her head."

"It'll take more than brain damage to get her used to this bloody place," muttered Seras to Pip as they walked behind Integra. Pip shrugged and patted Seras on the back, "Eh, kids. They bounce back, _mignonette_."

"And what a pity it would be if she adjusted more easily than you, police girl," commented Alucard dryly as he sauntered in between the two.

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Aeryn swung her legs for want of something better to do. The wooden bench was not uncomfortable but she was getting tired of staring at the wall. However, the deliberations appeared to be drawing to a close and she could hear the sound of footsteps on the stairs.

The social worker who had brought her here did not seem happy at all. She had come on as benevolent and saccharine in the beginning, asking to whom Aeryn belonged to, but had quickly turned nasty when Aeryn opined that she belonged to no one but herself and that the concept of ownership was meaningless for no one can confirm that anyone else's mind exists but their own.

She had snapped at the kindly porter who had given Aeryn chewing gum and told her that it would stave off hunger until she got home. Quoting Kant only gave the bitch what she deserved.

Aeryn leaned back and then blinked in perplexity at the white-gloved, long-fingered hand resting on her shoulder. Its fingers indolently drummed a rhythm on her collarbone and then quickly caught her under the chin and firmly tilted her head upward. Sapphire met claret and held it until the former voiced a plaintive query.

"Why did you stop?"

Alucard smiled, relinquishing his grip and returning his hand to its original position. "My apologies." Aeryn found herself resting comfortably against the side of this stranger and not entirely unwilling.

"Well, she's passed the first trial; she's met Alucard." Integra lit a Hendi Winzerman and took a drag. Walter coughed and said in a slightly clipped tone, "Sir Integra, I would abstain from smoking in front of the child. It stunts their growth."

"You know best, Walter." Integra stubbed it out on a nearby ashtray and surveyed her charge. Aeryn stood up, unperturbed by her presence, extricating Alucard's arm from her shoulder with care, halting briefly to grin and exclaim "Wicked!" at the design on his gloves.

"They say you're my niece." Integra surveyed the frayed jeans with patched knees and rips. The combat boots were the only item of clothing in good condition. Aeryn bit her tongue and locked her eyes to the floor.

"_La vie sur les rues est dur, eh, fille_?" Pip knelt and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"_Qu'est-ce que tu fais?"_Aeryn shrugged his hand off irately.

"_Qu'est-ce que je fais_**?**" Pip smirked grimly."_Je ne suis pas riche. Je suis un__orphelin, comme toi_**.**"

She considered this. Integra opened her mouth and Pip started again. "Your aunt doesn't like it if she doesn't understand what people say, so _c'est anglais_from here on out. Where've you been, _ma fille_?"

"Around. Here and there." Her eyes flicked back to Alucard and then the door. "Cities, mostly. I've been everywhere you can go without a plane ticket."

"What did you do to live?" Seras had read about war refugees and was disturbed at how much Aeryn resembled them.

"The best I could." She edged toward the door.

"Your parents, miss?" Walter snatched the dog end from Pip's moving hand and threw it in the rubbish bin.

"Dead. No one was able to figure it out and I legged it before anyone could find me. I lived with a caravan of gypsies for a while, but we were separated when they were escorted out of the country. I've been on my own for the past two years."

"Do you remember your parents?"

"Bits and pieces, yeah."

"Enough questions." Integra seated herself upon the bench. "I would ask you about how you felt about becoming the heir to an organization that kills vampires and is entirely secret from the public, but since you have no choice in the matter, I won't. Your existence here should be relatively painless."

Integra's eyes softened. "I did not know that I had a younger sister until today. I'm afraid I have little maternal instinct to go on. Perhaps we can learn together."

"Sounds good." Aeryn cautiously took the cigar out of the ashtray and offered it to Integra. Integra graciously accepted it and relit. Walter tsked while Pip and Seras exchanged relieved smiles.

"Introductions are in order, I believe." Integra pointed to each member in turn and said their name. "Now, let's get you a bath and some real clothes. I wouldn't use the clothes you're wearing to wrap dead fish in."

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The food disappeared off of the plate as soon as Walter had dished it out. He beamed with pleasure, never having cooked for anyone with such a wholehearted appetite. "Is it good, miss?"

"Mm!" Aeryn gave an emphatic nod and swallowed. "I haven't eaten for two days; this is absolutely wonderful."

"Don't overeat," warned Integra, thinking about the shopping she would have to take Seras and do tomorrow. Though Pip's old flannel pajamas were cozy, they hung low on her niece's small frame and the cuffs had to be rolled up several times for her to use her hands.

"Well, I'd better go tell the Geese we've got a new comrade." Pip stood up lazily and ambled over to Aeryn. He bent down, put an arm around her and kissed her forehead. "_Bon nuit, ma fille. Dormis bien._"

"_Et toi_." Aeryn returned the kiss and Pip left the kitchen, lighting up a cigarette as he went. She took her plate to the sink and Walter took it from her. "That is my job, miss, not yours. Besides, you won't have much time to rest with school."

"School? So soon?"

"Oh, not right away. We'll give you a few days to settle in, but you will be attending a private school."

"With uniforms?"

"Why yes. As a matter of fact, -- "

"We'll worry about that in the morning, Walter." Integra cut him off, seeing the unhappy expression on Aeryn's face. "Seras, I think you should show Aeryn to her room."

"Right. This way, then." Seras picked up the duffel bag and led her upstairs, Aeryn waving goodnight and looking uncertain.

"We have been unable to find her birth certificate or hospital records involving her anywhere, sir, though the documents are not fabricated."

"And the hit men?"

Walter shook his head. "Regrettably, Alucard tore them to pieces and we were unable to detect evidence from the fragments."

"I felt that it was in her best interest to be thorough in exterminating the enemy," Alucard defended. "But they were unremarkable. The uniforms were generic camouflage, somewhat similar to what the American military wears. But they were mercenaries, nothing more."

"Then the only clue we have to go on is Thanatos." Integra inhaled slowly. "The Greek personification of Death."

"That's a horrible name for a child!" Walter exclaimed.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that." Alucard's digits rapped a toccata on the counter. "I have a theory, though."

"What?"

"I cannot tell you, my master. Not until I am entirely sure of it."

Integra huffed. "Alucard, you play your cards so close to your chest sometimes I doubt you have a hand."

"Will you allow it?"

"Yes, as long as none are harmed."

"No one else will be involved, I reassure you."

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The floor chilly on her feet, Aeryn padded through the halls and down the stairways that composed Hellsing Manor as if in a dream. They were kind to her; she had enjoyed the company of Seras once she convinced her to call her by her name. She did not want to bring the hired guns upon innocent people. However, she did not want to pack up and leave abruptly in the middle of the night. It would leave a bad impression of her.

Debate muddled her. She lowered her arms absentmindedly, easily avoiding the obstacles in her path.

"So you can see in the dark." The deep voice of the man in red startled her, initiating her to jump and slide on the hardwood. "You should be abed, little Hellsing." He caught her wrist as she skidded back a few feet and brought her to him.

"You should be abed as well. Besides, I can't go to bed, much less stay here."

"Why not?"

"You'll be dead."

Alucard laughed. "Somewhat late for that, isn't it? Now, stop struggling, little Hellsing; it will not avail you."

Aeryn yelped as he scooped her up, shutting her eyes tightly. Warily, she opened them again and looked down. "It's scary up here." Alucard chuckled.

"Tell me about those men," he said as he went, carrying her down a flight of stairs.

"They're a different faction every time. People who I see or am aided by are killed directly after obtaining the necessary information concerning my whereabouts."

"Will another unit have been dispatched by now?"

"I…where are you taking me?"

"I have something to show you outside." Alucard opened the door at the end of the stairs and strolled out into the night. About thirty feet from the house, he set her down gently upon the cool grass, "Don't be afraid."

Two legionnaires approached them. One of them spat on the ground. "'Ey, bud, you gonna give us that brat? We won't hurtcha." He grinned, revealing yellowed, rotting teeth.

Unimpressed, Alucard drew himself up to his full height, causing the one with bad dental hygiene to retreat. "No."

The other one stepped forward. "My companion merely thinks that such a man of the world as yourself would be better off without a child to look after."

"Could any man leave a helpless little girl in danger and still call themselves of the world?"

The 'man of the world' spread his hands in an eloquent gesture of exasperation. "Sir, she'll be happier where we plan to take her."

"Call no man happy until he is dead," Aeryn spoke softly, as if in a dream. "Solon. Athenian lawgiver. Not Herodotus, who it is most frequently attributed to because he wrote of the incident in his histories. "

"Smart girl." Alucard smirked. "But I prefer an American's words." He drew his guns from his coat and aimed them at the heads of the men. "Three may keep a secret if two of them are dead."

Both corpses dropped as the bullets flew through their heads. He replaced the guns and genuflected beside Aeryn. "And that's what we do to monsters here."

Aeryn reflected for a minute and then concurred, worming underneath his coat to seek warmth from the cold. "Will they be back?"

"I doubt it." Alucard gathered her up. "Come. Let's go home."

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Skye: The American Alucard referred to was Benjamin Franklin. I debated between that and another quote, which will probably show up in later chapters.

Please review!!!!! There will be confectionaries and baked goods available if you do.


	2. See Me See Me Not

Skye: Hello all and thank you for the lovely reviews! You may claim whatever sweetens your truth from the tray! *offers tray full of goodies*

I'm still trying to figure out pairings for this story. I would love to hear your suggestions. But I will not ship Aeryn with any of the main characters except Schrödinger and I stand firm on this decision. Too much like incest for my liking and I don't want this to turn into a Mary Sue fic, like the awful YuGiOh fanfiction I first wrote when I joined this site in the good old days. (Don't read it! Save yourself!)

A/N: The translator I use is Babylon. If you put them in the way they're written, it should tell you what their proper meaning is.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, not even my own ass, which is a fairly nice one,

_French_

_**Romanian**_

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"_**Scaun**_."

"_**Scaun**_," Aeryn repeated, touching the chair dutifully.

The No-Life King nodded his approval and knocked on the table. "_**Masa**_**.**"

"_**Masa**_." She climbed up and sat on it. Alucard shook his head and tapped the tip of her nose in warning. "_**Nu**__,_ little Hellsing." Aeryn wrinkled her nose at the touch and twitched it to stop the sensation.

"Tables are for eating on, not for sitting, miss," Walter reprimanded, setting the tea tray he was carrying on the chair. "I really don't see why you have to do this here, Alucard."

"There's not enough furniture in the basement to identify, Walter. Besides, getting her down is easy enough." Alucard knelt and rapped on the hardwood floor, then met Aeryn's gaze. "_**Podeaua**_**.**"

She slid off the table and duplicated the action. "_**Podeaua**_**.**"

"Excellent. Do you see now why you shouldn't interfere with the learning process, Angel of Death?"

Walter rolled his eyes. "Don't get too full of yourself. Miss Victoria will be along in a moment to escort her to the car. And she doesn't even have proper clothing on. British autumns are not for the weak."

"Details, details." Alucard waved a hand idly at the irate manservant. "Go get your coat, child, before John Bull over here sees red." Aeryn obediently went to the doorway, then turned and paused. "Well…" Both men looked at her. "It's a bit late for that, isn't it?" She darted out of the room, accompanied by Alucard's laughter.

He stood back up. "She seems to be adjusting well; that's the first time I've heard her make a joke."

"We've all been keeping a close eye on her, but you watch her the most. Miss Aeryn slept in your arms last night; you never left her side." Walter thought for a moment, and then added, "I think that Sir Integra has finally forgiven you for taking her outside and then shooting two men in cold blood while she watched."

"It took the nightmares away; she dozed soundly. I simply felt that I should observe her as a precaution." Alucard's eyes narrowed. "No mercenaries have been sent since then; whoever wants Aeryn has seen that it will do them no good. Because of them, she drifts and needs us to anchor her here so she will have no reason to run. "

Pip sauntered into the room with a jaunty air, dressed in plainclothes to escort the girls to London for the shopping trip. "Morning, Walter, Alucard." He sipped from the mug of coffee in his right hand. The pair greeted him.

After glancing both ways, he lowered his voice and went on. "It's just like you said. My men found nothing on the thugs you shot last night except for their profiles. We ran any and every procedure we possibly could, but they gave us jack shit. And I doubt the kid understands why this is being done to her; those guys didn't know enough to blab."

Pip lit a cigarette and took a drag, his hand ceasing its wavering. "This whole espionage business…I don't like it. I wouldn't even watch those old spy films if the _mignonette_ weren't so damn cute getting excited during the fight sequences. I'm looking forward to when we can go in with our guns blazing and blast some ass out of those bastards."

"Shooting first and asking questions later does so shorten things," Walter agreed. But Alucard wasn't listening. Sniffing the air, he cocked his head to one side. "Something's off."

Pip moved his cigarette to his other hand and fumbled for his gun. "No, not like that, gentlemen. We are being eavesdropped upon." Alucard slowly and deliberately strode to the doorway that led to the main hall and peered outside. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew past the three men. "I believe it heard you, old chap." Walter frowned thoughtfully. "But I wonder. I really do…"

"Huh?" Aeryn blinked up at Seras, who was looking concerned. "What is it?"

"I was calling your name and you wouldn't answer." Seras pulled her up, her other hand pressing against Aeryn's forehead. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Well," Aeryn began, and then stopped, face flushing. Seras smiled "You got lost in your thoughts, didn't you, Aeryn?" The girl gratefully assented and the draculina patted her on the shoulder. "Nothing to worry about, pet. It happens to everyone."

"I suppose so." Aeryn hopped up onto the railing of the grand staircase and slid down. Unfortunately, she realized that there was no post to stop her descent too late. With a startled yelp, she flew off the railing and cannoned into the arms of an unsuspecting and extremely surprised Integra Hellsing.

Seras covered her open mouth with her hand and froze. The director of Hellsing was most definitely not a morning person. If her temper went, this might be Aeryn's first and last morning here. The room was dead silent as the two stared at one another.

"Morning, Auntie," Aeryn chimed, kissing her on the cheek. Alucard mentally photographed, framed, and mounted on a wall the flabbergasted expression on Integra's face, which to everyone's astonishment, melted and was replaced by a gentle, genuine smile. "Good morning, Aeryn. Do you normally greet people this way?"

"No, Auntie."

"Then don't make it a habit, please." She slowly lowered Aeryn to the floor. "I'll just fetch my coffee and we'll be going." Integra strolled into the other room.

"_Mon Dieu_…" Pip breathed in awe. He swept a confused but happy Aeryn up and spun her around. "She has tamed the beast!" Seras sighed relief as she stepped down.

"Wonders never cease. Sir Integra rarely smiles like that anymore." Walter shook his head, elbowing Pip in the ribs for referring to Integra as 'the beast' when he put her down. Aeryn immediately gravitated to Alucard, who picked her up and gave her a chaste kiss on the forehead. "Welcome home, little Hellsing."

Aeryn wondered just what she had done to receive this 'baptism' while absentmindedly playing with his cravat. Upon Integra's return, her sport was ceased when Alucard released her.

"Is the paperwork ready, Walter?"

"Yes, Sir Integra. The rest of it will be when you come back from London. In the meantime, Alucard and I have a few things to discuss after he sleeps. And most recently, I have realized that some repairs are in order."

"What do you mean?"

"There's a definite draft in the dining room. Alucard and Captain Bernadette have also experienced this." The flinch from Aeryn was subtle but both the mentioned men caught it and exchanged triumphant glances with one another.

"Enjoy your trip to London, master." Turning to leave, Alucard heard a small, expectant cough. He laughed and ruffled his young ward's hair. "You too, little Hellsing."

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The store clerk was flustered but no one could blame him. Integra had put in an extremely large order of clothing. She gestured with her cigar to illustrate her instructions. The workers loaded their lorry with packages to be delivered back to the mansion. Aeryn's eyes were the size of dinner plates as she held Seras's hand, whose face had an analogous expression.

Pip chortled as he lit a second cigarette. "Sir Integra…she don't take shit, eh, ladies?"

"Is that all for me?" Shirts, T-shirts, trousers, jeans, jumpers, socks, shoes, underwear, pyjamas, jackets, school uniforms…and none of them secondhand or patched. Integra had let Aeryn pick clothes by her side but she was so dazed by the sheer luxury of it all that her aunt eventually took over.

"Of course it is, love!" Seras beamed. "There hasn't been a child in the Hellsing household for eleven years."

"This is what normal kids have, _ma fille_. Kids who stay in one place and have homes." Pip exhaled a plume of smoke.

Integra came over to them after curtly dismissing the clerk. "We're finished here. However, we have about two hours to kill before going home."

"Why don't we go feed the ducks at St. James's Park?" suggested Seras. "This is Aeryn's first time in London, after all."

"Would you like that?" The director of Hellsing glanced at her heir, who was still eyeballing the trucks. Aeryn snapped to. "Hm? Oh, sure. Let's go."

"Officer Victoria, Captain Bernadette, please bring the car around." Both left the two Hellsings standing on the sidewalk. After some time passed, Aeryn moved closer to her aunt, letting the tips of her fingers rest on Integra's palm.

"These copies of the records were brilliantly faked. I can almost believe they're the genuine articles." Alucard poured a stymied Walter a generous measure of Macallan after forcing him to sit.

"There are no little details missing or extra added on." Alucard remained silent, though he did fetch a second glass for himself when he saw the magnitude of the retainer's frustration.

"Is that scotch to deal with me?"

"Of course not, Walter," the nosferatu soothed, although he mused that depending on Integra's mood, a third glass might be a necessity. "It's unwise to drink alone; you know that, particularly after you've made thousands of somewhat fruitless phone calls. Now continue, please."

"Someone covered Miss Aeryn's tracks. I wouldn't put it past them to have the missing papers upon their person. God, that's good scotch." Genteelly dabbing at the corners of his mouth with a napkin, Walter relaxed a little. "She was always in big hospitals and never stayed for long. The doctors remembered the cases, but not her. They reported forgetting that they had treated a patient shortly after she was done with and had little to no memory of factors."

"A nomad." Alucard sipped the liquor thoughtfully. "Our nomad now."

"They also described an odd coincidence which happened with every physician."

"The hell it's a coincidence, Walter," he stated firmly. "But I'll bite."

"At some point in the examination, she would close her eyes, inhale, and say--"

"See me." Pip watched as Aeryn's eyes glazed over and her body froze, catatonic. Her spirit appeared beside him, slightly translucent. Smiling, she patted his arm, her hand solid but chilled. She picked up a large stick and waved it around to prove that she could tangibly handle objects. Then, with the proverbial resolution present on her visage, she said softly, "See me not."

Her spirit rushed past him and hit her body, which fell forward. Pip ran and grabbed her just before she struck the ground. Sheepishly, Aeryn righted herself. "Sorry. I go a lot faster when I'm nervous."

"Can people always see or touch you outside of your body, _ma fille_?"

"Some can naturally. But most of the time, only if I let them."

"Have you always been able to do this?"

"Yeah. Can't everyone?"

Pip shook his head and gripped Aeryn's hand. "This isn't something you tell people. Don't worry about us; we're used to dealing with the out of the ordinary. Now, let's go see your aunt and the _mignonette_ before they notice we're gone."

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The ride back to the Hellsing Organization was quiet and uneventful. Pip hummed along to the radio as he drove while Seras and Integra discussed battle strategies in the back seat. Aeryn tried not to fall asleep, staring out the window and watching the world whiz by. As they pulled into the driveway, the lorry from earlier sped onto the road. Aeryn pinched herself mildly and the vehicle did not vanish. Considering that perhaps a harder pinch would help, Integra's voice startled her.

"We're home. Are you coming in?"

"Yes, ma'am." Obediently, she followed her aunt into the house, anxiety growing in the pit of her stomach. She had been reluctant to leave in the first place. Aeryn had held herself back from clutching the tails of his coat and begging him not to abandon her. Going without a family for two years and gaining one all of a sudden seemed too good to be true; what if he tired of her and left? Was he here still?

"Miss, if you don't close your mouth, something's going to fly into it." Walter's voice brought her out of her worries. Promptly, Aeryn complied.

"Preoccupied?" Alucard's rich, amused baritone resonated, quelling her fears as he pushed back his chair. He beckoned to her. "_**Vin aici la mine acum, putin unul.**_" Comforted, Aeryn scrambled onto his lap, briefly glancing at the papers on the table as she was enfolded into the strong embrace.

A serene caesura passed before Alucard spoke again. "How was London?"

"Odd," Aeryn confided, once again entranced by the red cravat hanging from his neck. "It's hard being on the other side." She pressed her ear to his chest and listened for a moment. "You have a heartbeat?"

"Yes, I do."

"You have blood in your veins, then?"

"Correct."

"And you drink human blood."

"Yes."

"You need it like humans need water."

"Agreed."

"So what's up with the homo goblins?"

For the first time since World War Two, Alucard was utterly lost for words. He had caught Walter about to enter coitus with the prostitute that he had just dragged out of Arthur Hellsing's bedroom. After a long lecture on sexually transmitted diseases that both Arthur and the lady of the night in question were affected by, Walter was cured of that, but he had filled the young butler's sock drawer with contraceptives to drive the point home. "Homo goblins?"

"You know, chemicals in your blood? You suck on ice cubes if you don't have enough wossname in your system? Starts with an ai?"

"Oh, iron." Familiar territory at last! Alucard rejoiced internally as he explained. "Yes, it does have to do with that. The word you want is hemoglobins, which are your red blood cells. The two are very closely linked and your body needs both."

"So, goblins have nothing to do with it, then?"

"They do not."

"That's good, then." Aeryn burrowed closer and whispered in his ear. "I always thought that hobgoblins and fairy wings didn't go together." He barely had time to stifle a laugh before she fired away again.

"Does no hemoglobin cause the porcupine disease?"

"Porphyria? Yes. Your skin becomes photosensitive."

"Do you have it?"

"No, pale skin comes with the territory. But we tell civilians that I do because it's easier to hear than the truth."

Aeryn considered this. "I dunno. I'd rather have a vampire in a fight than a sick person. Are there sicknesses for vampires?"

"Seras and I do not get sick, but we lack information about other vampires and thus are unable to truly say, meaning that she is the only other vampire who met me and lived to tell the tale."

"Who was the first?"

"That's a story for another night." Alucard kissed the top of her head, thinking about the last time he held a child in his lap and having substantial difficulty recalling the memory. It was restful, sitting quietly and listening to the sounds of the Hellsing household.

"Miss, your dinner is ready." Walter entered and the moment was broken. "She hasn't been bothering you, has she, Alucard?"

"Always assuming the worst about people, aren't you?" He played with a stray strand of ruby hair, Aeryn twitching her nose when he flicked it at her face. "I've never been more entertained."

He shifted his attention back to her. "You're a curious little thing. Most children your age cannot even attempt to pronounce those words. How did you come by that information?"

"We did go to school when there was enough money to go around. It's been hard to keep up since I've been—"

"Was," Walter corrected.

"All right, was," Aeryn conceded. "on my own for two years. Big bookstores don't care much if you nick what's on the discount shelf. The book of skin disorders gave me a rough time. I had to go and pinch a dictionary at a different store to understand most of it."

"Hopefully, the evaluation your school sent you should not present any difficulties, then."

"Evaluation?" Aeryn tensed slightly in Alucard's lap.

"To see what form you will be in at school. But your plate is probably cold by now; I'll go warm it up for you. Wash your hands before you come to the kitchen, please, miss." Walter left them, Aeryn considerably affected. Her eyes were no longer on him; they were glued to the floor.

"So, I guess the lesson's over, then?" She was sitting up again.

"Of course not," Alucard scoffed, putting pressure on his shoulder with his right hand so that she was forced to lean back against him. He cupped the left side of her face, forcing her to look at him. "I decide that. But you must eat, so go ahead. I will come find you afterwards and we'll continue what we started this morning."

"Right," Aeryn said in reluctance, removing his hand from her face. Hesitantly, she brushed her lips against his cheek as she slid down from his lap. Heeding Walter's call, she ventured tableward.

The elder vampire stood, letting he sink through the floor to the basement. "Seems I've got my work cut out for me, old friend," he mused aloud, shaking his head. "Though you were never the one to lessen the burdens. You had more than enough troubles of your own without me to aid you."

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He had decided to continue their lessons in the library. Integra read there after supper, while the others used it as a staff room to relax quietly. It was spacious and well-lighted, furnished with leather furniture and glass ashtrays. Besides, she needed to be around the others and not just him.

Pip was already there, slouched in the loveseat and smoking a cigarette. He hastily scrabbled for an ashtray when Alucard came in. "Oh, it's just you. How's the kid?"

"Fine. What's wrong? You're nearly as nervous as she. And why are you trying to hide your cigarette?"

"I think Walter's going to bust my ass for smoking in front of her. He was giving me the eye when I came in."

"He gives the eye to all smokers; he used to be one. Withdrawal was hell for him; he went through two packs a day when he started. " Alucard went over to a shelf and began to search. He flipped through the pages of a book, giving a grunt of satisfaction when he found a photograph of a medium family.

"Why did he stop?"

"He doesn't like to speak of it. Not even Sir Integra knows why. He told me that I was the only one who did and I'll respect his privacy…for once."

"For once?" The retainer entered the room. "You hold me in such high regard."

"Where's Aeryn?" Integra enquired, following her butler. She settled down on the sofa, a large stack of reports and memos in her arms.

"Miss Victoria is helping her bathe. The two of them seem to be getting on splendidly. She wanted to come straight here but I managed to dissuade her."

"Persistent kid, huh?" Pip offered Integra a light which she accepted. "She showed me the books she stole. Pretty heavy stuff, some of that. Must have been a college bookstore."

The four of them paused as the sound of pattering footsteps came from down the hall. Barefoot and scrubbed, the kid in question meandered inside, ignoring the other occupants and the slightly panting Seras trailing after her. Her eyes were huge as she surveyed the vast expanse of the ledges. Standing on tiptoe, her hand reached for a tome.

Alucard whistled. Aeryn started, turning to face him. A grin spread across her face. "Found you."

"That you did."

"Having fun, _ma fille_?" Pip blew a smoke ring at her face. She batted at it with her hand, giggling. "_Ouais_. Where did you go when we got home?"

"One of our trucks needed a new muffler. The Geese complained about the fumes. " Walter gave Pip the eye from across the room, who shrank against the leather. Integra cleared her throat and glared at her butler.

Alucard crooked a finger. "We'll continue as before. _**Vin aici, micuta mea una**_." Aeryn obliged, nestling her still damp head under his chin. One arm wrapped around her waist, he opened the book in his lap to the portrait of the family and pointed to a man standing beside his brother. "_**Nea.**_"

"_**Nea.**_"

"_**Buna.**_" He gave her a light squeeze and moved his finger to the man's wife. "_**Matusa.**_"

"_**Matusa.**_" Aeryn pointed to Integra, who looked up from her paperwork. "Hm?"

"That's right, little Hellsing." Alucard turned to Integra. "She just called you her aunt in Romanian."

Integra thought for a moment and then assented. "I like it. Much better than Auntie; it saves face. You shall address me as such from now on, yes?"

"_**Da, Matusa.**_" Aeryn smiled shyly. Integra returned it and then the lesson went on. She learned _**fratele **_for brother and _**sora**_ for sister, _**bunicul **_for grandfather and _**bunica**_ for grandmother, _**varul **_for cousin and _**in-legi**_ for in-laws. The grandfather clock ticked as the evening went on and one by one, the inhabitants of the library excused themselves.

Alucard glanced around. The two of them were the only ones there and the hands on the clock read ten. "One more word and then it's time for bed."

Aeryn followed his eyes. "Okay."

He pointed to the man in the book that he had purposely avoided. He was holding a baby on his lap and smiling at the camera. "_**Tatal**_."

Aeryn looked up at him and placed her hand over his heart. "_**Tatal**_."

A bittersweet smile crossed Alucard's face. "_**Nu. Monstrul. Vampir. Dracula.**_"

"_**Tati Dracula**_." He laughed but her face was determined and her gaze was set.

"You won't let this rest, will you, little one?" Aeryn emphatically shook her head, giving herself whiplash in the process and blinking to try to rid herself of it.

Alucard thought for a moment and then sighed. "_**Tatal **_it is, then." She hugged him hard like a drowning man clinging to a log. He reciprocated it. "Now, you have to sleep."

He carried her upstairs to the bedroom, Aeryn barely keeping her eyes open. She crawled under the covers and gazed owlishly at him. He knelt by the bed and she kissed his cheek. "G'night."

"Stay in bed this time." The No-Life King returned the favor and exited, carefully shutting the door behind him as he went out into the night.

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Every time you review, I burn a book by Stephanie Meyer so the children won't have to suffer. Please…think of the children.


	3. A New Friend

Skye: Hello and thank you for waiting! Here is the newest installment. I apologize for the funky spacing and any typos that may permeate the chapter and the note for last chapter. It should have been 'sweeten your tooth' instead.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, not even my own ass, which is a fairly nice one.

_French_

_**Romanian**_

* * *

"Get up in there good, _ma fille_," Pip yelled. His voice echoed in the enormous garage that was the Hellsing airplane hanger. A small hand gave a thumbs-up from inside the left engine of an SR-71. The Geese were working on the other planes so that he could keep an eye on Aeryn. With her not starting school until tomorrow, the kid had a lot of free time the past three days and Pip needed small hands to get into the spaces in the planes he could not reach.

He felt that she could not have come at a better time. Besides, Alucard and Walter had resolved not to shelter her the way Arthur Hellsing did his daughter Integra, leaving her completely helpless and naive after his death. Well, Alucard had made that decision and it was clear that he took his assumed position as her legal father seriously; Walter was along for the ride though he would never say so.

Pip privately agreed with the No-Life King and he had taken a chunk of time out of his day to spend with her and teach her the machinery. The others were, too, even though they took no notice of it. With the way things were going, she would be completely capable of taking over the organization and hunting vampires when the time came.

"Captain?"

Pip turned and saw Seras standing there, looking worried. "What is it, _mignonette_?"

"Are you sure she's all right up there? It's a big plane."

"I think she's fine; she's just cleaning the engine and tightening the compressors." He grinned good-naturedly and attempted to swat Seras on the bottom which she dodged. "Besides, her dad doesn't seem to mind at all." She followed his gaze.

Alucard was leaning against the side of the plane, a box of tools to his left on the wing. He had discarded his duster and fedora, along with the charcoal suit jacket and crimson cravat he wore underneath. Ignoring the pair along with the hubbub of the hanger, he was giving his little girl instructions and advice.

"She's ready, Pip!" Aeryn shouted, poking her head out of the giant cylinder that was the Pratt & Whitney J58 engine and allowing her 'father' to help her out. With her perched on his shoulder, Alucard picked up the toolbox and sauntered over to the two. "Why the stare, police girl?"

"Master…you're half dressed."

He smirked, putting Aeryn down and surveyed his fledgling's tight jeans and tank top. "So are you. I'm surprised Pip hasn't noticed by now." The Frenchman performed an appreciative once-over on his subordinate. "Hey…" he drawled, ready to work his magic. As Seras tried desperately to ward off his advances, Alucard led Aeryn away out of the hanger and onto the grounds.

He opened the back door to the kitchen quietly and ushered her in. "Try not to make much noise. Walter will have a stake though my heart if he sees your face like this." Sheepishly, the child tried to wipe off the sweaty film of oil and grease that covered her features with a hand, but merely succeeded in worsening the problem as well as getting dirtier.

The retainer came in. "I heard the door…" Walter trailed off as he got a good look at Aeryn's countenance. "Alucard, what has Aeryn been doing this morning?"

"Helping the Geese clean the planes. Pip had her working on the SR-71 engines."

"But those are huge and even with a ladder; she'd have trouble yet trying to touch it!"

"Well, once she crawled in about halfway, she was fine, but I had to set the tools on the wing and hand them to her because she couldn't get to them herself."

"You let her in the engine? Alucard, that's reckless endangerment; she could have been killed!"

"I was standing beside her the entire time and she was easily within reach. The engine was off and the fuel tank was also empty. Besides, Walter, it's me," said Alucard in a condescending tone. "Me. Remember? The one who's been saving your pathetic human ass since your first day here? I hope you're not becoming senile, my friend."

Walter sighed exasperatedly. "Fine, fine; you've made your point. I won't tell Sir Integra. But that child needs a bath. I don't know what is; dirt just clings to her. I hate having to find out on such short notice that we are to attend an affair this afternoon."

"Affair?" Alucard raised an eyebrow. "Whatever for?"

"The Queen just recently created a new Knight of the Round Table. Sir Kaelan Barrick, commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service of London. He and we will be working more closely with one another, helping other police departments recognize ghoul infestations and call us before they lose any officers to them."

"And how does the Round Table feel about this?"

"Sir Islands does not approve of it at all."

"Heh. I like Barrick already."

"Sir Integra said the same thing." Walter motioned. "Now, hand her over, please."

Alucard shoved Aeryn gently towards him. "_**Du-te vezi Walter, copil.**_"

"_**Da, Tatal.**_" She obediently went. "_**Vrei sa ma la crestereii gama dupa**_?"

"_**Poate ca. Vom vedea**_," said the vampire over his shoulder as he phased through the wall.

Integra glanced up from her paperwork when a shadow grew on the floor. "Good morning, Alucard."

"The same to you, my master." He rose out of it and straightened his cravat. "How's the paperwork?"

"Too much of it. It buries my desk." She sipped the cup of tea next to her. "Though a new ally on the Round Table is nothing to sneeze at, the paperwork for Aeryn's school is rather daunting. We had to fabricate a birth date because she could not remember hers. How is she?"

"Eager to try out the shooting range; she keeps asking me about it. What date?"

"April 30th. She picked it last night at dinner."

"Rather fitting, considering it was the day of Hitler's suicide."

"Don't tell her that. She was certain of her age, but she remembers almost nothing of what happened before she stumbled into the basement and found you. She claims that it goes foggy."

"Perhaps the little Hellsing suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and blocked those memories."

"And the more likely option that you're hiding from me in order to ease my worries?"

"Someone has sealed away parts of her mind. We possess reason to believe that she has been aided from the beginning; she's bright but concealing their presence from her would not be that difficult."

Integra rubbed her temples. "They come here; they all come here!" She dug in her desk drawer for a cigar.

"Let me worry about that, however; it's not confirmed since I have not drunk her blood."

"I thought you did when she fell unconscious in the basement."

Alucard snorted. "The poor thing was starved. I'm not heartless, Integra." He sat down. "Would you let me?"

"If you didn't traumatize her during the feeding. But I don't think you would. She worships you."

"It's about time someone did."

* * *

The limousine slid sleekly up the driveway. Handing Aeryn to Seras, Alucard got out of the car and opened Integra's door, offering her his hand which she accepted. Pip handed the keys to the valet and they walked towards the gate, the cool autumn wind whipping at their faces.

"Now, miss, it is imperative that you be on your best behavior," said Walter, launching the _HMS_ Lecture onto the seas of London's high society. "This means no stealing, no fighting, no cursing, and absolutely no displays of disorderly conduct."

"Unless you really can't help yourself," added Pip, ruffling Aeryn's perfectly brushed hair. The aged butler treated the mercenary to a scathing glare.

"Other than that, you have free reign," finished Alucard, inserting himself between the two to prevent bloodshed.

"I can go anywhere?"

"Yes."

"But how will you find me?"

"Karmic signature."

"What does that mean?"

"It means I know exactly where you are." Aeryn decided not to press the matter when she saw his impassive visage.

The gate opened upon a large courtyard where many guests were milling about. Most of the women were shivering with their low-cut dresses and bare shoulders while the men resembled bemused penguins in mid-molting. Waiters pinwheeled through the cliques, offering champagne and cocktail food wherever needed. This was all very interesting to her, but it paled in comparison to what she saw next.

A lone football, or for the British-challenged, a soccer ball, sitting on the vast green lawn. Aeryn remembered fondly kicking one around the streets with her friends until they were shouted at by the mothers. Or policemen. Or someone, anyway; it mattered little. She laid her coat on the grass and then became a blurred red streak after giving the ball a powerful kick that would have denied several men of children.

Much to her surprise, a coffee streak was coming towards her from the other side. Aeryn steeled herself. She would not give up the ball. Whatever this was, it was in for a shock. As it got closer, she realized that it was the same size as her.

Body curving to the left to protect the football, her right leg extended. She collided with the blur in a tangle of arms and legs. The football rolled a good distance away and gently came to a stop. Aeryn turned her head to the left, looking at the other little girl who was the coffee shape. Grey-green eyes regarded her solemnly. "So you're Hellsing."

Aeryn observed in turn. "So you're Barrick."

The eyes widened. "You're not a nob."

"Common as muck," agreed the petite redhead.

"That's good." She ran a hand through her long chocolate hair. "I'm Lissa."

"Aeryn." She smiled at her new friend. The two got to their feet, dusting themselves off. Lissa stretched. "I hoped you weren't one of them. My dad said that he would have rather stayed in bed than host this but my mum said it was our public duty."

"I'm still coming to terms with people looking out for me, if that makes you feel any better," Aeryn offered.

"You're adopted." This was a statement, not a question. There was a certain amount of basic information that was acceptable to know if you lived in a large household from observation, eavesdropping, or in Aeryn's case, losing her way to the kitchen and wandering into the room where the Geese played poker and tongues wagged abundantly once a few rounds of beer, shots, or possibly both went around the table. Repeating it would not insult the subject. "And you live with your aunt and her organization."

"And my father." The words came naturally.

"Is he like my dad?"

"I dunno. What's your dad like?"

"He's a copper. Head copper. What does yours do?"

"It's sort of hard to say."

Elsewhere, Alucard was calmly strolling the grounds of the Barrick manor. He had left Integra under the watchful eyes of Seras and Pip, drinking tea with Lady Barrick and considerably enjoying the dearth of suitors pressing favors and attempting to use her as a meal ticket. Lady Barrick was a kind but harangued women coping the best she could with the rancor of the Round Table and her husband policing the streets instead of brownnosing. He suspected the two of them would understand each other well.

Nodding to the soldiers stationed by the gate, he sauntered over to where a mahogany-haired man leant against a wall smoking a cigar. He glanced up as Alucard approached, dark eyes narrowed. "Afternoon. You're Hellsing's trashman?"

"Yes. And you're the newest Protestant Knight?"

"I'd prefer Kaelan, if it's all the same to you." He fished a box out of his pocket and offered the vampire a cigar, which he graciously accepted. "Alucard. You're a rare one. Most men are too afraid of me to engage in conversation."

"If I spent my life fearing, Alucard, I'd never get anything done." He exhaled. "My name in Welsh means slender. I ended up fighting everyone to prove I wasn't weak. I guess that's what got me here in the first place."

"You dealt effectively with the aftermath of Cheddar. My fledgling appreciated your concern."

"Fledgling?"

"Officer Seras Victoria. The only 'survivor' of the incident. She would tell you herself but she is currently in conversation with your wife, I believe."

"Naomi is a saint." Kaelan stubbed his cigar out on the side of the wall. "My daughter's around here somewhere."

"So is mine."

"Isn't she Sir Hellsing's niece?"

"Yes. The nature of her adoption was rather complicated. A father would safeguard her against any knight who would endeavor to sabotage us. However, legally, Kaelan, I would have been in that position whether she was Sir Hellsing's blood or not."

"Let's have a grand and glorious adventure," Lissa declared solemnly, wiping the biscuit crumbs from her mouth.

"Why grand and glorious?" Aeryn stretched. It was no problem procuring refreshments from the waiters but the nobles clearly thought that children should be seen and not heard.

"Why not? This house is so big; we haven't been in the east wing yet. We'll be doing my parents a favor. They've been too busy hobnobbing around with the other nobby nobs."

"Nobbing." Aeryn added helpfully after an awkward silence settled in.

"Thanks. Sounded odd without a leveler. Are you in?"

There was nothing against what her father had instructed. "Alright. Race you!"

"Sabotage? They squabble when the slightest course of action goes awry."

"Petty arguments started the War of the Roses, Kaelan," the former count stated. "Along with the Trojan War, the Boer Wars, and the conquest of the Ashanti tribe of West Africa. The highborn of England turn on each other faster than any of them would like to entertain. My master is the unlikely exception. We exterminate filth; we don't play with it."

"It's a herd mentality, isn't it? I've never seen less than two of them at once."

"Yes, it gives you more credibility among the nobles if you have a prominent person on your side."

"Your meaning?"

Alucard tapped the ash off his cigar. "You need us as much as we need you."

Aeryn was not lost. She was completely sure of it. Everything else was just misplaced in relation to her current location. "Your house would be a great place to pop a squat."

"Squatting?" Lissa scratched her head. "Isn't that illegal?"

"Dunno. I never got caught." She tried to suppress the feeling of satisfaction that rose when she said it. "You could lose yourself here if you wanted to. It's as big as the--no, our organization."

"Does your place have this much old stuff?" The other examined a suit of armor.

"The parts we live in and I've wandered through." Aeryn traced the embossing on the hilt with her finger. "I loathed the size at first but it's not so bad now that I can recognize their footsteps."

"How do you do that?"

"Listen. It took me a while to learn how. Certain footwear sounds certain ways on people's feet. It threw me off at first that my father stepped so lightly with him wearing riding boots but I got used to it." She frowned. "Come to think of it, sometimes I couldn't hear him enter at all. He never told me why."

Lissa opened her mouth, but stopped when a gunshot rang out in the distance. "Aeryn?"

"Yes, Lissa?"

"Do you know those steps coming this way?"

"Alucard." Walter sprinted to the two men, Kaelan surprised at the butler's spryness. "Sir Integra is safe. Officer Victoria and Captain Bernadette are guarding her and Lady Barrick. Two of the four gunmen have been captured; the others are still at large."

"Good." The vampire reached into his coat and flicked the safeties off his guns. "Are all entrances and exits secured?"

"Yes." Walter cracked his knuckles in anticipation, he and the commander keeping pace with the other. "Sir Barrick, will you be joining us?"

Kaelan responded by loading a 19-round magazine into the Glock 17 he withdrew from a pocket inside his suit coat. "Good man." Alucard grinned humorlessly. "But I'm afraid you and the Angel of Death will have to find another way in." He phased through the mansion wall, leaving the duo outside.

* * *

Today was not a good day in the life of Lane Bryant. He thought it was going to be easy. Two kids, just two brats were still attending primary school; it was not supposed to be this hard! Not only had they scarpered before the mercenaries got there, but they left them a present his partner Irving Hubert discovered when he stepped on the edge of the heavy posh Persian rug that should have muffled their approach sufficiently. It had taken them ages to get his poor mate's leg free.

A bloody steel trap! The bleeders had nerve; he would give them that. They would pay for it now, though; the hallway was a dead end. "Not so clever now, are you, you little bastards?" His taunt rang out, he and his injured partner approached the girls.

"Cleverer than you, you big git," Aeryn whispered to Lissa who stifled a slightly hysterical giggle. She was frightened but one of her first lessons was how to push the fear into the back of your head where it could not touch you. It helped but did not change the gravity of their situation.

"You'll pay for this, brats," spat Irving, limping the best he could. "We'll take it out of your hi…" He trailed off, watching the colossal gentleman come through the left wall and frantically turned Lane about in time to see.

"What the…" Lane nearly pissed himself. Never in his life had he seen a man so tall and commanding. Clothed in Victorian clothing and a red duster, he smirked as he pointed two gargantuan pistols at them. "Good afternoon, soldiers. Note that I am well armed. I will shoot the last man to drop his weapons. You have my word on it." The click of the mechanism was deafening in the following silence.

Both men hastily threw their weapons to the ground. "Hm. It would appear that we have a tie. Rather unfortunate for your sake." Alucard fired and they fell to the ground, each clutching a different body part. "But in deference to Sir Barrick's sensibilities, I have to settle for one wound in the leg and one serious foot injury."

He reholstered his guns and knelt in front of Aeryn. "_**Sunt fie de te doare?**_"

"_**Nu, ei nun e-a durut.**_" She shook her head emphatically. Lissa ran to her parents, whom were speeding toward them. Her mother hugged her hard while her father carefully oversaw the guards carting away the out of commission unfortunates that angered the nosferatu.

Alucard stood when Pip came over to them and ruffled Aeryn's hair. "Hey, little Zizou; you did good out there. I saw you." Aeryn tried to smile. "Seras and the boss are just taking care of business; they'll be here soon."

Pip glanced from side to side and lowered his voice. "They accused the _mignonette _of being involved with this and Integra blew her top. Walter's helping her clean up the mess."

"Sir Barrick investigated the corruption that led to Cheddar. I'll speak with him later." Alucard sighed. "Excuse me a moment." He departed and returned swiftly, his arm protectively around Seras and his other arm ready to give any who hindered him a taste of silver. She was listening intently to him when he motioned Pip over. Grudgingly, the Frenchman left Aeryn standing there and went to them.

"Get her to the car and help her relax. She's in thrall currently; the bastard who accused her sent her into panicked hysterics and nothing else would calm her. She'll be out of it for awhile, but not for long. I'll attend to the little Hellsing." Half carrying the blonde vampire, Pip headed off and Alucard reassumed his post.

"Four days since I caused a death…that's a new record for me." Aeryn looked up at him. "I guess I should be happy but it doesn't seem like a victory."

"Did you die?"

"No."

"Are you a virgin?"

"Yes."

"Then it's a victory, little Hellsing," he stated confidently. Aeryn gripped the forearm he wrapped around her shoulders with both hands and he pressed her closer in turn. "That man."

"What man, _**copil**_?"

"The one who made _**Sora **_cry. You should teach him a lesson."

"Perhaps later. You are not to seek him out, craving for vengeance or not; the web is tangled as it is."

"Alucard." Lissa not far behind, Kaelan advanced, forgetting that his badge was pinned to his suit. At the sight of the badge, Aeryn tensed, ready to bolt. The vampire gestured with one hand for the commander to wait and ignored him.

"_**E bine**_," he gentled, his white-gloved fingers soothingly stroking the side of her neck . "_**Eu sint alaturi de dumneata. Tu esti in siguranta.**_" She relaxed and he let go of her. "Go join your friend. Sir Barrick and I have business to finish." Aeryn went to Lissa, warily dodging the newest knight.

"That's your dad, isn't it?" She mentally cursed her instinctive impulse to run away from policemen. It was nothing personal. They just tended to ask too many questions like "How old are you?" or "Where are your parents?" or even the dreaded "Did you pay for that?".

"Yeah. Who's the tall bloke in red? I wasn't watching."

A wave of relief washed over Aeryn. "Oh, him? He's my father." She had vague memories of her birth father to begin with and none of the gypsy men had singled her out to spend time with her, she reasoned. He was as good a father as any.

"He's bloody huge! Is he a giant?"

She pondered this, viewing Walter and Integra smoothing over problems with Lady Barrick aiding them. "Dunno. He's pure Romanian; I don't know if they're supposed to grow any more than anyone else. I think he's a special case."

Lissa shrugged. "You do wonder, though, don't you?"

"Those who wonder are not always rewarded," intoned a deep voice, causing Lissa to jump and Aeryn to spin around. Their respective fathers stood behind them, both sporting amused expressions. Alucard laughed, his lilting Romanian accent giving the words a melodic attribute. "When you observe, you are observed in turn. Remember it well,_** micul meu unul**_."

He smirked. "Now, who is this before me?"

"This is _**prietenul meu, **_I mean…" Madly striving to switch her brain through Romanian, past French, and back to English without stopping, Aeryn groped for the words. "My friend. Right. This is my friend Lissa. Sorry." Her face flushed in shame.

"The difficulty will pass. Most cannot even master their mother tongue, let alone achieve the art of trilingual speaking." He grinned. "Hello, Lissa."

"Hullo, mister." Lissa's eyes widened in recognition of the gargantuan gentleman who had shot the two hired guns. She shifted from one foot to the other, suddenly feeling a lot less brave. "Thanks for saving our asses."

"Lissa," chided Kaelan. "What would your mother say if she heard you use that word?"

"She wouldn't?"

"Good answer," said Alucard, disregarding the feeble tug of Integra's leash in his mind. "And you're welcome; it's a hell of a lot easier than killing the undead."

Kaelan suppressed a chuckle. "So you must be Aeryn."

"I am," she clarified. "Sorry about earlier."

"Old habits die hard." Kaelan glanced regretfully at his cigar case. "I know that for a fact."

"Though this has been interesting, we must leave. This must be given a thorough investigation, after all."

"You will be the first to know if we find any leads. Out of interest, where is Sir Integra sending her to school?"

"Churchill Academy. It's private and meets with our security standards."

"That's where we're enrolling Lissa. She starts tomorrow."

"So are we. Say goodbye, Aeryn."

Aeryn hugged Lissa hard and the girl and the vampire left.

"You're not doing so badly, are you?" Integra was waiting for them. "A friend on your first day is always beneficial. Now stop dawdling; it's time to return home and prepare."

Alucard bowed and Aeryn nodded. Integra took Aeryn's hand and pulled her into the limousine. The No-Life King shut the door and shared with Walter and Pip a triumphant smile.

* * *

I won't lie; that ending was a marathon to write. I'm not entirely happy with it but it was the best I could do burned out. I've never written twelve pages before and I am quite proud of myself.

Please review! The offer of confectionaries and baked goods is still extended.


	4. School Daze

Skye: Hello to all of you and thank you for those who reviewed last chapter! My school work keeps me busy, but I shall persevere! Currently, I'm also doing a little pet project of mine; I plan to translate Hellsing into French, along with other languages, and post it on YouTube. I'll have to wait until I get a new computer to do that, but no worries.

I bet you all were wondering just what Pip meant when he called Aeryn little Zizou. Zizou is the nickname of the French footballer Zinedine Zidance, who is widely considered one of football's all time greats. His most famous moment was at the FIFA World Cup in 2006 when he headbutted Italian defender Marco Materazzi for calling his sister a whore, though Materazzi denies that he insulted him in that way. Nonetheless, the French have a great affection for Zizou and I could easily see Pip and the Geese tossing back a few beers and watching football on the telly.

There were a couple quotes from Terry Pratchett's Discworld universe in last chapter; kudos to you if you found them. As far as my information goes, I scrupulously research and try to be as accurate as possible when writing my stories. I don't know if a seven year old could really fit inside a J58 engine, but I strongly suggest you don't try it with your younger relatives. But on with the chapter!

_French_

_**Romanian**_

* * *

There was a navy tie lying on the nightstand. Aeryn regarded it suspiciously. For all she knew, it could be a snake in a rather clever disguise, just waiting for her to pick it up and then, it would lunge at her throat and poison her horribly. She grabbed a poker and prodded it. Nothing happened. Disappointed, the heiress set the fire hook back in its stand and laced up her boots.

It was currently six in the morning and whoever thought of it as too early for activity had never been in the Hellsing Organization. The mansion was bustling with activity, the staff preparing to shut down and sleep. Walter had forced Aeryn to go to bed at nine o'clock, so she went down the stairs and onto the banister with a lucid head.

After clearing the difficult landing, she wandered through the dining room and navigating the labyrinth of rooms and corridors, managed to find the kitchen.

"Only three minutes, miss. You're becoming accustomed quite nicely," said Walter, his back to her.

"How did you know it was me?"

"Our soldiers wear boots like yours but none of them slide down the stair railing and cheer when they land sufficiently." He poured a mixture of eggs and milk into the skillet on the stove and began stirring it with a fork. "How has your morning been so far?"

"Good. And yours?"

"Busy, ever busy, but it always is." He smiled. "Is your book bag ready?"

"Yes. Walter, why do you call me miss? You don't have to."

"It is the custom. I would not feel comfortable calling you anything else, miss."

"Are you sure?"

"Very. There are apples in the bottom left drawer of the ice box. Please take one and do not be alarmed at the sight of the blood packs on the shelf above it. Those are for your father and Miss Victoria. Don't poke at them, either, miss."

Drawing back reluctantly, Aeryn obeyed him and munched on the apple happily. When they were sufficiently scrambled, Walter removed the pan from the stove burner and deposited the eggs onto a plate. He placed it in front of her. "There you are."

"Thank you, Walter!" She ate eagerly, tossing the apple core into the rubbish bin. He took the empty plate and silverware. Aeryn felt a pang of defeat allowing Walter to clear her place. The previous night, there had been a miniature standoff between them.

Though it did not last long, it had amused Alucard to no end. He was the one who broke it, snapping his fingers between their faces, Aeryn nearly dropping the china at the sudden sound. Integra had seized the tableware from her niece and carried it to the kitchen sink, her gaze daring anyone to repossess it.

Walter had told her halfheartedly to take her bath and change into pyjamas. When Seras was brushing her wet hair, the two of them could hear the guffaws of the Geese from the poker room. The draculina had refused to tell her just what they were laughing about. "Where is everyone, Walter?"

"Outside at the shooting range. Go put your coat on and we'll join them." Conspicuously trying to control her excitement, Aeryn slipped into a white fleece hooded jacket that had belonged to Seras until yesterday. It hung to her knees. Walter gave it his seal of approval and out they went.

The cold morning greeted them. Aeryn sniffed the air, enjoying the smell of petrol and machine oil. "Walter, do we go to the left? I know that the airplane hangars are to the right."

"Yes, we—"A gunshot pierced the air, effectively cutting him off. Aeryn ran in the direction of the sound, red hair streaming out behind her. Momentarily wondering whether he was too old for this and why on earth would a person run towards a gunshot instead of away to a safer distance, the butler pursued her. She was waiting for him at the doors.

"I'll go and let us in." Determined, Aeryn leaned and pushed her entire body weight against them. After a few minutes, Walter realized that she was trying to phase through the wall, exactly like her father was so fond of doing. "Walter, it's not working right."

He cleared his throat. "Well, you see—" For the second time that morning, he was cut off as a long pair of red-sleeved arms snaked around Aeryn's midsection and granted her wish.

Someone had dunked a vat of ice water over Aeryn's head; she was sure that must have happened. It was the only way to explain the sensation in her body when yanked through the otherwise solid object. Both the wind and the scream knocked out of her, her disoriented senses tried to come to terms with where she now was. Her feet were on the floor, so whoever held her was kneeling and the arms around her waist were strong and secure. Her head was against someone's shoulder and the body was cold; that narrowed it down to two people.

Dimly, she heard Seras say in the background, "Master, that was a horrible trick to pull on someone first thing in the morning!"

"She wanted to come in, didn't she?" rumbled the deep voice of her father. Aeryn could feel the vibrations against and going through her chest. Well, that clearly left one choice for the mystery snatcher. "_**Tatal?**_"

"_**Da, iubire**_?"

"Can you do that again? It was fun."

Alucard laughed lightly, obviously pleased, and let go of her. "I told you the little Hellsing would be fine, police girl. If you scare that easily, you shorten your life span considerably."

Integra smacked the kneeling vampire lightly on the back of the head and tugged her niece away, supporting Aeryn's back with her other hand because she had stumbled a bit when she was set on the floor again. "Leave Seras alone; she meant well. And stop cornering the market. We need to check on the soldiers' times."

"Times? What do you mean, _**Matusa**_?"

"Come on; I'll show you." Walter had finally gotten in and Aeryn could hear him berating the elder vampire in the background as the younger watched the pair go. They climbed a flight of stairs and into a room with large glass windows that were opened wide. "Can you see them?"

Aeryn looked out and down. A large obstacle course lay before her in the open air, humming with activity. Some of the Wild Geese were running it. Another part was a shooting range and the remainders of them were putting that to good use. She exhaled. "That's bloody brilliant."

"_Bon matin, ma fille_!" bellowed Pip, hands cupped around his mouth and his cigarette sticking out from the phalanges of his right hand. He was supervising the Geese firing at the targets. "We've got an audience, men; pick up the pace. Have to set a good example for our _fille, ouais_?"

Aeryn waved at them and they reciprocated. A few minutes later, the men left and Pip came up the stairs to the platform. He ruffled Aeryn's hair, giving her a one-armed bear hug, and addressed Integra. "They did well last night. We didn't have any casualties and that was a tough head vampire. No discipline problems either, though there are a couple I'm keeping an eye on."

"Do you think that there has been an increase in activity, Captain?"

Pip's brow furrowed in concentration. "Not any more than usual. Why, boss?"

"Walter seemed to be troubled by something when he finally got inside here."

"What was keeping him?"

"The door was locked." They both focused on Aeryn, who had spoken. "I know because _**Tatal **_yanked me through it."

"Which he should not have done," stated Integra.

"It was fun, though," Aeryn said with a smile.

"Dead?" squeaked Seras. "Walter, you're not serious, are you?"

"Completely, Miss Victoria. This morning, I received a call from London's premier forensics lab. Shortly after we left, the two gunmen were treated for injuries and then were supposed to be transported for questioning." The retainer sighed. "They died on the way. When the autopsy was performed, they found that their stomachs were empty except for pure Prussic acid."

"Prussic acid?"

"Cyanide," translated Alucard, examining the file that contained the autopsy report. "Were they left alone at any time during this? Cyanide acts quickly, especially when someone does not eat. It takes ten minutes at most for the person to die."

"Not at any point. Sir Barrick himself guarded them on the way to the precinct."

"Hmm. Timed release capsules, commonly used in the pharmaceutical industry. Our enemy covers his trail without remorse." He handed it back to Walter.

"Master." Alucard inclined his head toward Seras. "Didn't you tell me that Aeryn referred to the men as dead when she saw them? Do you think she's psychic?"

"I very much doubt that. She assumed they were dead because they had been carted off and death was the fate of many who associated with her. Or me." He treated himself to a wry grin, and then grew serious again. Still, not a word of it to the little Hellsing. It is unnecessary stress she has no need of."

"Agreed," confirmed Walter. "Miss Victoria, may I have the report back?"

"Oh, right! Sorry, Walter; here you go." By the time that Integra, Pip, and Aeryn came down the stairs, the folder was safely tucked away. The knight frowned. "You're all awfully quiet."

"Though it may shock you, my master, your servants are capable of silence," deadpanned Alucard. "Just like your niece can travel out of her body, we have the extraordinary gift of shutting our mouths, which most adults rarely possess."

Aeryn, who had been gazing longingly at the steps to upstairs and not really listening, whipped around, eyes flashing with silent fear. "Calm yourself, _**cel putin**_**. **The ability to practice astral projection is not a sin but a blessing and the art itself has been on this earth far longer than any of us have. How far can you extend you range from your body?"

"I…I don't really know," she admitted, the trepidation progressively fading as the familiar fingers curled around her neck. "No one ever took it very well when I told them; I never experimented with it because I was afraid of what they would do to me when I was in that state."

"We will have you work on it. You would be helping us and yourself if you did," clarified Integra, looking contented. "However, you are not to test it when you are in school; that's a risk I am not willing to take."

"Speaking of school…" Walter glanced at his watch. 'Good Lord! Miss, you have to get dressed and wash up straight away if we want to be there on time to register."

"Stop worrying." Aeryn was neatly scooped up in one arm by Alucard. "We will return." Integra nodded permission. "_**Inchide ochii, micuta mea una**_," he cautioned. Shadows gathered at his feet and upon the sight of them, the girl hid her face in his coat without delay.

Another tub of ice water was plunged over her head in the window of time between the concealment of her eyes and the arrival in her upstairs bedroom. She had the impression of moving sideways shortly after the former. Her senses were not as disoriented this time but her mind was racing. Sure, going through solid objects was all very well; merely rearranging the atoms would certainly be sufficient and with much practice, not a significant problem, but was that what had just really happened?

"_**Sint aici.**_" Her father set her down gently on the bed. "_**Ai mai deschide ochii acum**_." Following his suggestion, Aeryn opened her eyes. They were in her spartan upstairs bedroom. Nothing was out of the ordinary, but the tie on the nightstand seemed a bit eldritch to her. She glared at it charily and inched away.

"You travel through the shadows often." Her back was to Alucard, but her frenetic rummaging through the drawers betrayed her state of mind. "How do you do it?" She found the shirt and trousers that she sought and banged the still open ones shut.

"I'm afraid that I have no sufficient explanation for that particular method of mine." He sat on the queen-sized bed. "You must realize that some things simply cannot be understood, no matter the amount of time they spend under a microscope. At that point, logic is put aside. There is no need to justify why an event occurred. "

Aeryn gripped the bottom of her pyjama top in her hands and jerked it up and over her head. About to shed her lower layers, she turned around. "Sorry, but am I doing something wrong? Are there proper English upper-class manners for undressing?"

"So Walter's gotten to you, has he?" She nodded and slipped on her trousers. "You are fine as you are; there are few things I haven't seen." He handed her the clean shirt, critically noting that her ribs were not as prominent. She was gaining weight. "On the other hand, it has been a while since I've seen someone so young with that many battle scars."

Aeryn paused, self-consciously observing the prominent marks on her body. "I got most of these in the two years I spent on my own." She buttoned her shirt and gave the tie one last glower before reaching for it.

"Then let's not add to the collection, shall we? I have something for you."

Aeryn turned about, the evil tie promptly forgotten. "What?"

From a pocket inside his coat, Alucard withdrew what appeared to be a small handle. He pressed the button near the top of it and a blade shot out of it. "This is a flick knife, also known as a switchblade in the United States." He pushed it again and the blade retracted. "I trust you know how to use a knife?"

She nodded. "How will I hide it?"

"Roll up your left leg." She did so. From presumably the same pocket, he extracted a small sheath on a strap and stored the knife in it. Carefully, he wrapped the band around her boot-covered calf, fastened it so that the knife was on the inside, and then covered it again. It would make it easy for her to reach the weapon; she would feign tying her bootlaces. "Does _**Mathusa**_ know?"

"Yes. She also knows that should any messy circumstances occur involving your possession of that weapon, it will belong to me once more and you will be punished severely." He saw the pained expression on Aeryn's face and continued with the smug knowledge of a veiled threat well made. "Walter is still not happy about you bearing arms, but it is my decision to make and not his. Don't prove Pip and I wrong for trusting you."

"I won't disappoint you, _**Tatal**_."

"_**Bun. Va las sa mergem.**_"

* * *

In the backseat of the limousine, Integra blew out a plume of cigar smoke. Walter was at the wheel and lecturing Aeryn on how she was to behave at school. After he finished, she spoke. "That's funny. _**Tatal**_ told me something similar, but he left out some stuff."

"Like what, miss?"

"Well, he didn't say if when he talked about fights."

"No?"

"No. He said when. And not to draw blood, cos it gets people excited." Integra suppressed a laugh as Walter's eye twitched slightly.

Aeryn leaned forward, concerned. "He said your eye would do that, too. Are you all right, Walter?"

The butler's grip tightened on the steering wheel. "Perfectly fine, miss. Perfectly fine," he forced out through gritted teeth. That damn vampire was going to get it.

"Aeryn, we need to discuss some issues before we register you." The knight relit and waited for her niece's full attention. "Under no circumstances can they know about the nature of our organization, thus you must be discreet and scrupulously careful. You are to keep that and the nature of your father and Officer Victoria a secret. People will ask you about your family. You are to say that your father is a weapons dealer and that everyone else works for the family business."

"What about Lissa?"

"She's fine. I'm confident that she is receiving a correspondent lecture."

"Can I tell them I'm adopted, _**Matusa**_?"

"You may." Integra exhaled. "The closer you get to them, the easier it will be to find out if they are trustworthy. You will not tell them of your past life before us."

"Okay. Is that all?"

"No." Her face softened. "Shine. There is no reason for you to mask your intelligence; we know you are bright and diligent and we expect you to exhibit those traits outside of home. If not, your father and I will have to have a long discussion with you."

Aeryn exhaled. "More threats. Right. I can manage that." The car pulled into the driveway of the academy. "Looks like a school for toffs."

"From what my sources tell me, our threats will keep you from becoming a toff." Integra opened the car door. "Which is the last thing that Hellsing and I need. They tend to die too easily."

The secretary looked up when they entered. "Take a seat, loves; I'll be with you shortly." Her French-manicured nails expertly flicked through the dossier Walter placed on the desk. "Seems to be in order. Right then, Sir Hellsing. I'll just show her to the classroom and you can leave."

"Very well." Integra turned to Aeryn. "Walter will be waiting by the car for you when the school day ends. "

Aeryn nodded. They said their goodbyes. The secretary found it odd that the girl was allowed to have such close contact with the butler and odder still that the knight did not mind it, but did not remark upon it. Sir Hellsing gave the impression of a parent who would have no remorse causing the dismissal of an incompetent employee from their job.

"Wait here a moment while I fetch the other new student. Both of you will be in the same classroom." The secretary disappeared into another part of the office and returned with Lissa in tow. The friends grinned at each other.

"Well, you two seem to be chums." The two looked back at her quizzically.

"We're shark bait?" Aeryn queried, scrutinizing her hands.

Lissa lifted her arm and sniffed. "I don't smell especially fishy today. My mum said that she couldn't be having with me stinking on my first day here."

"Girls?"

"It's not like we even live near the seaside. I think there's a stream in the woods, but it's freshwater and I haven't been to see it. My family's been far too busy…"

"Ladies?" They looked at her. "Perhaps I should take you to your classroom."

"Right then, you do that," conceded Lissa. The police commissioner's daughter and the director of Hellsing's niece discussed that antiquated slang term as they went, totally ignoring their escort. The secretary sighed in relief. At least she was not being subjected to the piercing gaze that all children give adults when they feel that the façade of genial indulgence is verging on patronizing vacancy.

* * *

Whoever this man was, he was extremely fond of daffodils. Aeryn had forgotten the name of the poet when her teacher began to take apart his vision with inexpert tools. Part of her said this was wrong, but the other said that it was keeping the teacher's attention from her which was perfectly fine in her book. Disconsolately, Aeryn flicked through the pages of the textbook. It was not that she objected to anyone liking daffodils; she just felt that it should not take up more than half a page to say so.

A priest had told her once, "Nil desperadum; auspice Deo!" Immediately after, she had questioned what the number zero had to do with despairing and asked him to elaborate on his god's relationship with bananas and hospices. She had a sneaking suspicion that the poet worshipped the aforementioned god. It later proved to be right.

The school provided a lunch to the children called Bacon Surprise. Lissa thought this was so because it must have come as a shock to the poor pig. Aeryn agreed and was pleasantly surprised when she opened her backpack and found a brown bag with a neatly packed lunch inside.

The rest of the day was a hazy blur. For about forty five minutes, an aide watched them play outside and ushered them back into their classrooms when time was up. The teacher then talked about Our Proud Kingdom of Britannia and of the valor exhibited in medieval times. They were shown pictures of ladies with weird hats and low-cut dresses mooning over balconies and throwing handkerchiefs down to their knights, who waited below on horseback. This provoked a whole new set of questions. Didn't the ladies catch cold going around like that? How did the knights go so much as a single step with that much armor? And why on earth would any sensible individual put curtains on a horse?

Aeryn decided to ask her father to explain the matter when she got home. He had lived in that time period, after all. The young Hellsing had come to regard Alucard as something between a benevolent dictator, a god, and a force of nature. She did not question his existence, though she knew what he was. His nature was not by any means subtle. It hit you over the head with a warhammer and refused to stop until you acknowledged its existence. Aeryn figured that she would be told everything eventually; there was no need to rush or worry.

Her mental wanderings were eventually discovered by the vexed teacher but before any disciplinary measures could be executed, the school bell rang, signifying the end of the day. The throng of rapturous children charged out of the double doors and to their transportation home.

Aeryn saw Walter standing in the lot, watching the commotion and waiting by the limousine, just as Integra had said. Bidding goodbye to Lissa, she ran over to him. "Hallo, Walter!"

"Good afternoon, miss." They got into the car and he started the engine. "I hope you're hungry."

"I'm starved. Why?"

"You will be eating early." He drove out of the parking lot and pulled onto the main road. "Tonight, your training will start in earnest."

* * *

A little cliffhanger for you all, then. It's not too major. I could have gone on and on with cutesy instances in Aeryn's school day, but that's for another chapter. I needed to get this out of the way so the story can keep its momentum. I'll put in Iscariot and the Queen soon; you'll probably see the Queen before Iscariot, but I am undecided.

For fans of Iscariot, don't worry; they will definitely play a part in the story. Especially Father Anderson. And I've said too much. Please review! Confectionaries abound for those who do!


	5. London Town

Skye: Hello! I'm sorry to tell you that I have been making a translation mistake with my Romanian; I didn't have the gender agreeing with the subject. It should be _**copila**_ when referring to Aeryn instead of _**copil**_. I'm not going back to fix it because I don't want to delete and repost so many chapters; I'm just letting you know that from now on, it will be righted. Hopefully, that was the only one.

I've been bogged down with the school play (Fiddler on the Roof), midterms, SATs, and all that jazz, but I will survive, nonetheless. This chapter marks the beginning of a large crossover, which is not so much of a crossover as it is an integration and tweaking of ideas. If you can guess it, you shall receive double the confectionaries and baked goods for a normal review; if not, you'll have plenty of chances to.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, not even my own ass, which is a fairly nice one.

_French_

_**Romanian**_

* * *

"So, we're clear?"

"Uh-huh."

"Are you sure?"

"I guess."

"Right, then." Seras turned to Pip. "I don't know how I feel about this; she's awfully young to be thinking about guns, much less shooting them."

"Orders are orders, _mignonette_. Besides, if she's going to grow up around guns, she'd better damn well know how to use one. It would be stupid not to teach her."

A shot rang out and he turned around. "Heart or the head, _ma fille_, heart or the head."

"Sorry." Aeryn reloaded and sighted before shooting again.

"No worries. You're not doing badly for your first time." He lit a Rothman and went over to Walter, who was observing the little Hellsing intently. "Watch her, Seras; we're going for a walk."

The two men refrained from conversation until they were out of earshot. "She's a damn good shot." The Frenchman exhaled. "I've never seen anything like it. He is planning something, our big man on base?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. You know Alucard well enough by now; when he's planning, the only person who knows what's going on is him." Walter paused. "Big man on base?"

"The men decided it was a better nickname than Big Red; that made him sound like a brand of chewing gum." Pip thought for a moment and added, "Of course, it seems like a brilliant revelation when you're drunk."

"Most things do," rumbled Alucard, appearing out of the darkness. "How is she?"

"Doing frighteningly well. You could switch her out for a SWAT sniper and the only difference you'd notice is the height." Walter stared at his old friend. "What do you make of this?"

Alucard shrugged, his expression sphinx-like. "She's doing well for her age as a human; we'll have to see how she fares for her age as…something else. Shall we go see?"

When they returned, a group of curious Wild Geese had gathered on the shooting range to see what was happening. Seras took the handgun from Aeryn. "That's enough for now; you don't want to get too accustomed to one weapon." She motioned to one of the Geese. "Could you bring us a Barrett M98 please, Djamel?"

"Sure." The Goose in question lazily saluted and ambled off.

"Three feet…that's rather large. Are you sure it's the one you want?" Seras gazed at her master questioningly.

"She won't be holding the entire gun," he replied. "The little Hellsing will be able to handle it." Aeryn was not listening but staring at Pip, who was setting up the long-range targets. Djamel reappeared, holding the gun in question. Alucard nodded. "Let me see that rifle." He handed it over to the vampire, who then performed a complex motion in which those watching swore that he had dislocated his wrists and popped them back into place about five times.

He placed the scope in Djamel's unresisting hand. "You can put this back; we won't need it out here."

"_Ah, je vois_." Brown eyes gained understanding and a grin spread across the mercenary's deeply tanned face. "You got a plan, _Monsieur_ Alucard?"

"_Toujours_," he responded and then saw Aeryn was looking at him with a surprised expression. "You are never the only one who knows a language, _**copila**_. Someone had to create it first. But enough talk; I want to see you shoot."

Aeryn took the gun from him and readied it with the help of Seras. Pip flipped a switch and the target popped up. "One hundred yards."

She sighted and shot, the bullet hitting the neck of the target.

"Little higher next time, _ma fille_," advised Pip, flicking the switch that took down the target and pressing the one that rose the next one. "Two hundred yards."

Again, she shot, the target puncturing at the head. There was a flash of interest in Alucard's eyes. "You make it too easy. Let's make it, oh, four hundred yards?"

"Four hundred yards?' questioned Walter, facing his old friend. "That's a stretch, isn't it?"

"We'll see shortly." Pip got up the next target. "Four hundred yards."

The scion of Hellsing showed no signs of wavering and her aim was clear. . Walter noticed that Alucard was not watching where the gun pointed but Aeryn's face when she aimed and shot. Still, he felt uncomfortable not knowing what he was looking for. The No-Life King motioned to the captain. "An even thousand."

He echoed the statement and put up the longest target. The Geese sat in complete silence, not even reaching for more cigarettes. Seras stepped forward and placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "You don't have to do this if you don't want to, love."

"It's all right." Aeryn picked up the gun once again and focused on the target. "_**Acum, sa va vedem sale argint destul de ochii tai**_," muttered Alucard to himself. Sure enough, as the child's eyes widened to focus on the target, they turned silver. She shot and it hit, and then turned to face her father.

The vampire nodded. "That's enough."

The Geese whooped and cheered, congratulating their youngest member with slaps on the back and decided as a whole that a celebratory pint or five was in order. Djamel disassembled the gun, showed Aeryn how to clean it, and then left to join the others.

Pip grinned at Alucard. "SWAT sniper in the making, _non_?"

"Not yet. She has a ways to go and a long way at that." His smirk was one of satisfaction as he watched Seras pick up the case containing the M98 and leave. "However, she's much better than I could have hoped for. This secret does not leave the shooting range and reach the ever-frightened ears of the Round Table."

* * *

"It's a standard gathering that happens every year. The Queen meets her Knights of the Round Table. Old and new business is discussed, and then we all go home again." Walter set the plate down in front of Aeryn. "So, this Saturday, all of us will be going to Buckingham Palace in London to see her."

"Will we?" She prodded the food with her fork. Aeryn normally prided herself upon having an iron stomach, but she had no idea that British cuisine had ceased evolving gastronomically around twelve hundred forty-two. After careful scrutiny, she was able to recognize half of the food and began to nibble at it. As soon as that half of the food passed her approval, she ate in earnest

"Oh yes. It's a nice little party." Walter started to eat his own dinner with relish. "You're still acclimatising to England; it will be good for you. You've never seen so much as one banger."

Aeryn edged her chair away from the butler. "A what?"

"You know; it's a sausage."

"That's what you call them?"

"Yes."

She regarded him incredulously as she took her plate to the sink.. "You English are strange."

While the little Hellsing was taking her bath, thoughts of the matter out of her head, Integra was finishing the last of the papers in her office. "It's all done; every last bit of that damned contract that put me through hell the past week. She'll be ours on the new year." She handed the file to Pip. "How quickly can you get these to the Queen?"

"In no time at all. I'll just go find Walter." Alucard snorted as he left. "Hey, I've got my pride."

When they were alone, Integra glanced out the window. "The knights are not going to be happy with us for this."

"They never have been for anything," stated the vampire with the air of one who has worked with an organization for at least ninety years. "Besides, they would do the same thing if they were put in our situation, only shoving more pomp and circumstance down that poor clerk's throat with designer stationary."

Integra lit a cigar. "I see no flaw in cutting out the middle man. How's Aeryn? I heard that you put her through her paces today out on the shooting range."

"We're easing her in as gently as we can. We showed her clips off of security cameras in the archives; Walter and I previewed them beforehand."

"How did she take it?"

"Other than nearly breaking my hand, fine. A few nights ago, though, I found her kneeling half asleep at your office window with one of your crosses and the chain wrapped around her hands. She was muttering fragments of prayers for a safe return; I don't believe she was addressing them to any gods in particular. "

"Like rosary beads? I thought that the _tsiganes_ were pagans."

"It's not unusual for them to adopt the religion of their host country. Since her French is fluent, they probably frequented the country and were Catholics." He held up a hand when she opened her mouth. "However, they are usually integrated with whatever traditions they had in place to begin with."

"So she's not Catholic?"

"I doubt it; she most likely thought of it as a means to an end, like a Buddhist would use a prayer wheel to attain what they desired."

A hesitant knock sounded on the door and they turned to face it. "Master? Sir? Aeryn's lying on the floor of the library with a book that's twice her size and it's in German; I have no idea how she got it down. I can't convince her to get off the floor and the dictionary she wants is much too—"

"We're coming, police girl." Alucard opened the door for Integra, pausing briefly to pat his fledgling's fluffy halo of hair. "Stop fussing."

Aeryn was indeed lying on the floor, her legs propped up against the loveseat where Pip had assumed his usual post. She looked up when the three entered and smiled. "_**Buna seară, Matusa**_." The armchair in which Alucard normally sat remained unoccupied. "Aeryn, why didn't you sit in the chair?"

She shrugged. "It didn't seem right." Alucard scooped Aeryn up in one arm and the book in the other, settling them both in the chair. "What's this, _**copila**_?"

"It's Der Erlk…Der Erko…" Aeryn struggled with the German pronunciation.

"The Erlking?"

"So that's what it means in English. I've read it before, but it was filled with thees and thous; not proper words. Could you tell me what it really means?"

In a low voice, Alucard translated the text of the poem. Realisation dawned upon him, but he said nothing until it was time for bed and they went upstairs. "Are you that afraid of the Royal Order of Protestant Knights?" He sat down on the bed.

"Well, wouldn't you be? They don't want _tsiganes _like me polluting the bloodline." She climbed up onto his lap and pillowed the side of her face against his chest.

He sighed, ran his fingers through her hair, and lifted her face to his. "_**Iubire**_, they're so inbred it's a wonder that the heirs aren't three-toed hermaphrodites."

"Really?"

"Why do you think the Queen created a new position on the Round Table?" Alucard's hand moved to its familiar place at the side of her neck. "This is not Italy, _**copila**_; Because of what you are, you will not be treated any differently from the rest."

"They won't like me, though," stated Aeryn, freeing herself momentarily to shift to a more comfortable position.

"That is probably the case."

The little Hellsing blinked, surprised at the frank admission. "No lies?"

"No. I will never lie and I will never leave." He took her hands, which nearly disappeared when clasped in his, and kissed her forehead. "This I promise you."

The church bells ringing reminded the pair of just what time it was. "It's the witching hour for you, _**meu iubita**_." Reluctantly, Aeryn crawled under the covers and he stood, about to leave. "_**Tatal**_?"

The nosferatu paused. "_**Ce este**_?"

"_**E…eu te iubesc**_."

"I don't remember teaching you that." His tone was amused, but she hung her head nonetheless; Walter had explicitly instructed her not to peruse the dictionary because he claimed she might stumble upon vulgar language. "_**Hei.**_" He chucked her under the chin. The absence of punishment and the affection given in its place startled her. "_**Eu te iubesc de asemenea, draga mea**_."

* * *

"Sir, your name is not on the list," the guard stated, folding his arms. Life was not going well for Sir Kaelan Barrick at the moment. He had been warned that it was not unusual for the Round Table to obstruct new members from their respective duties, but this bordered on juvenile. The fact that it was happening in front of his wife Naomi and daughter Lissa only served to upset him more.

"But they sent us the invitation!" exclaimed Lady Barrick. "We showed it to you."

"Ma'am, you are not getting inside until someone else says otherwise."

"And who would that someone be?" enquired a silky voice.

The luckless security responded, turning around. "Only a reputed and distinguished member of the Round Table who is a…full…fledged…knight…" Confronted with his mistake, he gulped and saluted the speaker so sharply that you could have cut diamonds with it. "Sir Integral Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing!"

"What trouble is there here, soldier?"

"N-No trouble at all, Sir!"

"Is that so? Then why are you denying the man who keeps the country from going to the dogs? Does it amuse you to commit such indiscretions, soldier?"

"I'm sorry, Sir. I—"

"I should hope so; you're the sorriest person I've ever set eyes on and I've seen quite a few. Now, would you be so kind as to open the gates and let us pass?" She took the arm of Sir Barrick; behind her, Alucard offered his arm to Lady Barrick, who accepted. Lissa and the rest of the Hellsing entourage followed.

Alucard returned custody of Naomi to her husband once inside and came to walk beside Integra. "If I may say so, you handled that well, my master."

"Thank you."

Kaelan caught the eye of the older man. "Would you all excuse us to walk ahead for a moment?" Seeing the expression on her colleague's face, Integra nodded her permission and the two men proceeded until they were out of earshot.

"How often does this happen?"

"More than it should. They attempted something similar when Integra took her father's position, but Walter and I soon put a stop to that. It's been a long time since any changes have happened in the Royal Order of Protestant Knights."

"They told me some…things about you without your permission."

"What sort of things?"

"Your past." Alucard prepared himself for the verbal storm that usually accompanied anyone discovering his dubious historical origins. "But I didn't listen to them. I went and did some research of my own. You were a bit of a policeman yourself, except your beat was a turbulent country much larger than mine."

"No wonder the Round Table is angry; it's the first time they've been confronted with someone who thinks." The No-Life King clapped him on the shoulder. "Well done. By those actions, you showed the queen that you can handle yourself without being mired by idiotic questions that waste her very valuable time."

"How many questions are asked in your line of work?"

"Depends on how long you want to live. If you have any further questions, though, I will answer them if you wish. " Kaelan shook his head and they allowed the others to catch up. Aeryn had gone nearly as pale as her father and Lissa's eyes were wider than Buddha's belly. The girls looked to each other and then to their respective families. Hand in hand, the duo entered Buckingham Palace.

* * *

The conference room seemed much larger from the hallway than it really was. After settling the girls with Lady Barrick and Seras outside, Alucard, Pip, Kaelan, and Integra went into the lion's den. The first impression one got of the Royal Order of Protestant Knights was that these men were little more than clerks. Their faces were pale and their hands without calluses; Kaelan and Pip doubted that these men had done one day of hard work in their stuffy, pampered lives.

"Ah, Sir Integra, Sir Barrick, how kind of you to grace us with your presence." The smile of the silver-haired and moustached man in the maroon suit at the head of the table did not reach his eyes; he reserved them for a hostile glare which Pip returned and Alucard met steadily. "Sir Islands." Integra nodded curtly as they passed.

"Your Majesty," said Kaelan as they bowed to her.

The Queen smiled. "It is a pleasure to see you. Please, be seated so we may commence." The two knights took their seats at the head of the table, the vampire standing at Integra's right side and the mercenary at Kaelan's left.

Sir lslands began to speak once again. "As it so happens, we have dealt with the old business and are quite ready to discuss the new business; your heir, Sir Hellsing, to be exact. The circumstances surrounding her appearance are odd."

"I understand your concern. However, my servant will be able to give a better report than I can." Integra gestured to Alucard, who had removed his hat and sunglasses prior to entering and was exceedingly pleased to see the men shrinking in their chairs satisfactorily. "Please address your questions to him."

Sir Islands, clearly irked at having to speak to whom he considered of lower station, frowned. "What are her origins and ancestry?"

"On her father's side, she is pure Romanian; on her mother's, French and Welsh. Her English has a touch of Welsh to it and if you exchange one letter in her name for another, it becomes the name of a Welsh war goddess; we can assume from this she was born in that part of the country before the incident."

The eyes of Sir Islands narrowed. "Incident?"

"The murders of her parents," clarified the director of Hellsing. "It is in reference to the briefing you read prior to the meeting. There is Welsh ancestry in my family, as you may remember."

"We have acknowledged this." The Queen motioned to the nosferatu. "Continue. Where has she been?"

"France and briefly, Italy. The _tsiganes_ she lived with spoke French and English; her proficiency in both is average and she does not have a problem switching."

"Her education?'

"Eclectic. When money is scarce, food comes first. The few books that she has vary greatly in subject matter and are well worn from reading. The evaluations the school sent claim that she is what they call gifted, but not unusually so."

Sir Islands frowned, inclining forward. "Your strange behaviour beforehand—"

Alucard cut him off. "It is of no importance to us now. The killers of her parents and the ones who send the soldiers for her remain at large. We are currently investigating to the fullest of our abilities with the cooperation of Sir Barrick."

The Queen reclined in her seat. "That satisfies our inquiries for now. We will meet with Sir Barrick and his family now privately; the rest of the knights may leave, excluding Sir Hellsing because we wish to meet her new legatee."

Once she had left, the others followed suit. Naomi and Seras were seated on a bench outside talking quietly as Aeryn and Lissa speculated upon everything ranging from the meaning of life to the existence of the duck-billed platypus. Sir Islands was obviously displeased; glowering at the Hellsing staff, he collected his wife and son. The aforementioned boy smirked at Aeryn and received a glare saturated in enough enmity to make Genghis Khan cry out, "Oh, I say, hold on!"

"Oh, what a vile temper we have for such an angelic countenance." The No-Life King grinned at his daughter, whose face flushed defiantly as the boy and his livid but terrified parents scuttled off and away. "_Ils sont salauds_," she justified, and then switched abruptly to Romanian. "_**Stii, Tata, tu ar trebui sa traga ei**_."

"I can't shoot everyone, but it's a lovely dream, isn't it?" He ruffled her hair.

The Barricks left to go see the Queen. Integra looked after them critically. "They need bodyguards that are not us. Captain, do you know anyone who would work for them?"

Pip scratched his head. "_Alors_, I got a letter yesterday from an old friend who just finished a job in Honduras and is looking for something to go straight with where people don't speak any Spanish. Steady, too, so he can find his lost daughter."

"What's his name?"

"Leon Pissenlit."

"Pissenlit?"

"It means dandelion."

"Fancy that. What's he like?"

"He's a suspicious bastard who trusts no one." Pip grinned. "He's perfect."

"How soon can we have him here?"

"A week."

"That works. Tell the Barricks, will you? Alucard and I will be taking Aeryn to meet the Queen; you, Walter, and Officer Victoria will stay here to guard them."

Aeryn, who had pleasantly drifted off into her own little world as the conversation went on, snapped to. "What?'

"Come on; we don't want to keep the Queen waiting." Reluctantly, she followed her aunt and her adopted father down the corridor and into the throne room.

* * *

Her first thought upon viewing the Queen was that she seemed tired. Her second thought claimed that she was just an old woman on a posh chair and nothing special. However, both of these sentiments were shoved out of the way by the third thought, who told the others to shut up and let the poor girl concentrate.

"Your Majesty," said Integra and the three bowed to her. Aeryn vaguely remembered hearing in school that women were supposed to curtsey, and was glad that the teacher was wrong. With a nod of permission, they rose to stand.

"Good afternoon." The Queen focused her gaze on the child. "You must be the long-lost heir that's got our knights up in arms. Let's have a look at you, then."

"Yes, ma'am—I mean, Your Majesty," she said, stepping forward.

She was scrutinized carefully. "We don't see what all the fuss is about. Perhaps they feel that what is unsaid about you is the issue." Her eyes flicked to Alucard momentarily. "How long were you in the United Kingdom before you were found?"

Aeryn pursed her lips for a moment. "Two weeks, no more than that."

"And you fought those soldiers well?"

She shook her head. "Ma—Your Majesty, those men had been chasing me for six months. They were tired and I got lucky; if not, I don't know if I would be here. I can fight someone who's a bit bigger than I am, but not a full-grown adult."

"You can't stay alive for two years at such a young age by only being lucky." The Queen leaned forward. "We must say, we found the bear trap most amusing. We read in the report that it was in a spare guest room in that wing of the house?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. We had to drag it out quick."

"What inspired you to use the beat trap?"

Hesitantly, the child reached down and pulled up the right leg of her trousers, exposing a large and ugly scar with teeth marks that covered most of her calf. "We were in the Italian countryside on a rich man's land. I was hunting with the older kids and we didn't see it. I tried to kick it off; the doctor said I was lucky that I didn't lose my leg. " She turned to Integra and Alucard. "I made _**Sora **_go out of the room when I washed because people get really upset when they see it."

"And how," remarked the latter as the former made a sympathetic noise and traced the scar with her gloved hand. "I assume you don't remember who it was."

She shook her head. "I was four."

"Nevertheless, you understand that you can only 'get lucky', as you put it, for so long." The Queen leant forward as Aeryn knelt to tug the trouser leg back down in order to meet her gaze. "Do you have anywhere else that you could go to?"

Aeryn bit her lip, but returned the gaze steadily. "No, Your Majesty."

"Will you run away?"

"Can't and I won't; they saved me. I always repay my debts, Your Majesty."

The Queen nodded and switched her gaze to Alucard. "There are many things about this story that you hide from us, vampire. Why on earth is this so?"

"To protect you and the country, Your Majesty," he defended smoothly. "It would be unwise to divulge everything and cause needless, messy panic and hysteria."

"But your enquiries continue."

"As always, Your Majesty."

"Very well; I shall allow this. When the time comes, though, I expect everything."

"But of course, Your Majesty." Alucard bowed at the waist.

The Queen stood. "Child, go to the window and tell me what you see."

Aeryn went to the aforesaid window and after looking out side, turned back politely baffled. "It's fog, Your Majesty."

The Queen sighed; sometimes, the weather would just not cooperate. "If you were to look outside on a clear day," she said sharply, "You would see the city of London and all its people. As a Protestant Knight, your duty is to protect the citizens of the United Kingdom from the undead menace. You cannot turn back if you choose to stay with your family; you will inherit your aunt's position and fulfil her duties after her death. If you do not want this, we can easily place you with a foster family. Your choice?"

Aeryn gazed determinedly at the obscured city. "I'll stay."

* * *

Originally, I planned to add more to this chapter, but it would have been far too long. Have a Happy Passover, a Happy Easter, and a Blessed Ostara!


	6. Hospice Day Oh

Skye: Hey guys! After this chapter is posted, I go on a much-deserved vacation. I've had a crazy time finishing this chapter, but I have a very important question.

My muse has been begging me to make this an AxI fic, because it's one of my favorite pairings. However, I feel bad doing that without telling you all. So, when you review, tell me; should I stay general or should I go with my instincts? I also am considering posting a list of all the translated phrases since so many people seem to be having trouble finding the meanings. I need to know how you feel on both of these issues before I can write the next chapter! But, on with the story.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, not even my own ass, which is a fairly nice one. Except for Aeryn. I guess she could be described as an "ass-et." Ha. Bad pun or possible joke, I don't know which, out of my system now. Let's roll.

_French_

_**Romanian**_

The teacher strode between the desks to the front of the classroom. "Now, children, I expect these to be taken home straightaway. We shall be going to the Dartford Museum of Art this coming Thursday. No, Stevenson, lunch will not be provided!" A disappointed little boy lowered a sweaty, pudgy hand as she sighed exasperatedly. "This is to broaden your minds, children, not your stomachs."

Lissa yawned and whipped her long brown hair into Aeryn's face to keep her from nodding off. A few minutes later, the redhead returned the favor. Eventually, their necks sore from whiplash, they decided to continue this by sparring with pencils and were happily doing so as their incensed instructor berated her class.

"All of you, poisoned each and every day by their filth! The media, the movie industry, the television, heaven forbid you actually pick up a book once in a while! I would be amazed to find out that one of you had seen a women in anything more than lingerie and a vapid visage—Hellsing! Barrick! Stop that right now!"

The two girls looked up, the picture of innocence. "Yes, miss?" enquired Lissa.

"What are on earth you two doing?"

"We are teaching ourselves the art of swordsmanship," chimed Aeryn.

"On a smaller scale so we don't interrupt," added her partner in crime.

The teacher opened her mouth and then shut it as the school bell rang. Recognizing opportunity when it knocked, the pair darted out as she shrilled to the departing students, "The deadline for the permission slips in is Wednesday!" Though it was highly unlikely that they would be followed, Aeryn did not stop running until she reached Walter and they were driving towards what was now her official place of residence, which seemed an awfully stuffy way to say home.

It was almost disconcerting to think that at the end of the week, she would have been in the Hellsing household for a whole month. She had never stayed in one place so long before; always moving to somewhere far from her current location.

"We're here, miss." Once they were out, Walter locked the car and they entered the kitchen through the back door. "Do you have any homework this evening?"

"No, Walter."

"You won't go straight to the poker room, will you? You'll do something educational and intellectual first before you go watch them gamble and drink?"

"Poker is educational; it teaches you about life and human nature."

"Did your father tell you to tell me that?"

Aeryn nodded, not even bothering to deny the accusation. Walter thought for a moment. "There is a grain of truth in that, but you must tell him I said so, if you please. Run along now, miss; the soldiers must be wondering where you are."

The two exchanged smiles before Aeryn took off upstairs. She had learned quite a bit from watching the soldiers play poker; she had learned who could bluff well and studied their methods, even employing them to deal with teachers and difficult children at school. Half of the bullies were convinced that she could give them the evil eye and the others flew rumors around about her mysterious family.

In her defense, they had stemmed from tiny things; the first story was that her family members were cannibals when a chicken bone that she had found in the schoolyard and taken inside to dispose of fell out of her jacket pocket and onto the floor. Not that all of them were bad; she had heard a group of girls discussing how cool it was that her adopted father was James Bond and her aunt was a runway model. Aeryn did nothing to encourage or hinder the rumors; it kept them busy since she and Lissa were strictly forbidden to talk of their home lives to anyone but each other, and as Pip pointed out one day, they were probably much more interesting and easy to believe than what truly went on at Hellsing.

She pushed open the heavy door and entered. A few beery cheers greeted her. Most of the men were assembled around the tables doing a combination of drinking, smoking cigarettes, playing, joking around, arguing whose turn it was to get up and get new beer, or just talking. The large television was on in the background with a football match but no one was paying it very much attention.

Aeryn made her way through the jungle of chairs and legs to the back left table of the room. Alucard had propped his right leg on an empty chair and was watching Pip deal out the cards for the game with his arms crossed. He would occasionally deal, but never play; a younger Wild Goose had once wondered aloud when he was not present how he could easily bluff with no cards in his hand and an older, more cynical Goose had answered that it was because he permanently held the playing card that had big, scary vampire written in capital letters on its surface.

"_**Bunã ziua, Tata**_," she greeted him, climbing onto his lap and kissed his cheek. He uncrossed his arms and slid one around her waist, inclining her against him.

"Looks like I win again." There were groans as Pip reached into the center and took the poker chips. "Lucky that none of us were betting anything, eh, boys?"

"He cheated, didn't he?" implored one of the losers.

Alucard shook his head, absentmindedly catching his adopted daughter's right hand when it went to bat at his cravat and nipped her wrist lightly as a gentle reprimand. A loud roar of anger came from the men who had been watching the television because their game had just been cut off by a worried-looking reporter.

"We interrupt this broadcast for a special emergency bulletin. Currently, we are outside of the National Art Museum of Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain. It appears to be the source of the mysterious organ music that started about five minutes ago. We will now go live to our camera crew that is currently outside of the museum." An impressive building that strongly resembled a cathedral filled the screen and they began again. "The museum is known for its rare and beautiful organ, which—"

The crash of breaking glass and the rumbling of the building's foundations drowned out the words of the journalist. As the music crescendoed, the structure caught on fire and collapsed as the final chord of the piece climaxed and hung. While this was happening, not a single person had moved or spoken; the fall of a speck of dust would have reverberated like the striking of a giant Oriental gong.

Once the screen switched back to the reporter, Walter, who had heard the shouts of the Geese and came with the lady knight and the draculina to see what all the fuss was about, picked up the remote and switched the television off. Integra leaned against the doorway calmly with the usual cigar, but her gloved hands shook badly. The color had drained from the habitually cheerful face of Seras.

"_Merde_," said Pip disbelievingly, breaking the silence as he struggled to light a cigarette.

Integra cleared her throat and exchanged looks with Alucard. "Well, it appears that we have work to do, soldiers. This isn't out of our jurisdiction anymore."

There was a flurry of activity that night in the Hellsing household. Within a few hours of the fall of the museum, the police reports were out and circulating. The poker room was untouched; everyone and everywhere was busy. Due to this, Aeryn was the one to greet Hellsing's emissary from Barcelona at the door and bring him upstairs to Integra's office, who was forewarned of his imminent arrival.

Father Vaclav Havel was an Anglican priest of medium height, with long black hair, a thin beard and moustache, and brown eyes. He was Czech, but not as in checkerboard, he explained to Aeryn as they went up the stairs and down the hallway; he was named after the most famous playwright in his country. Anglicans had both Catholic and Reform traditions in their church, so Hellsing and Iscariot did not view them as a threat; in fact, he was often used as a go-between when the organizations needed to communicate. Aeryn found herself enjoying his company immensely and was sad to reach the office of her aunt.

Greetings were exchanged and they sat down to discuss it. Seras went to remove Aeryn from the room, but Integra shook her head and motioned Aeryn to come sit on her lap. "She has a right to hear this, Officer Victoria; in time, she may have to handle a similar situation. Father Havel, the floor is yours. What is the current consensus of the cause of the collapse of Catalunya's art museum?"

"The current opinion is that the deterioration of the foundations was why it happened. However, Sir Hellsing, this cannot be the case. I visited that building a month ago and it was completely structurally sound. As for that and the organ music, I have no explanation at this time; no one knows where it came from, but the music did not originate from the Barcelona Art Museum in Catalunya."

"Father Havel," said Walter, placing a file upon the table and opening it. "We might. Alucard brought this up from the archives a few hours ago; we both remembered it well. This was before your time, of course, during the Cold War."

He spread the blueprints across the table. The main design was of a giant mobile organ with carillon bells; a smaller design showed it folding up into an obelisk. A few calculations were also written upon the piece of paper, along with the title.

"The Silent Noise system was designed not long after the Cuban missile crisis. The sound waves created by the organ and the bells would be of a tremendously powerful frequency, low enough to bring entire cities to ruins. Moscow was full of cathedrals; it would have been difficult, but not impossible to use the weapon if needed. The Ministry of Defense commissioned it from Professor James Barrett, who was highly respected in the field of sonic engineering at that time period."

"Whatever happened to him?" Pip asked.

"He was found hanging from the rafters of a private estate he had built for himself called Sagrada Familia five years ago. There was a large puddle of blood on the ground beneath him. Professor Barrett was a jumped-up little man who didn't make friends easily; I'm sure that he had plenty of enemies to his dying day. What is troubling is that we have the original design and a copy of the plans while the Ministry of Defense has two copies. Our documents have never come up from the basement until today; there must have been a leak in the government."

"Um…" Seras fidgeted with a pen. "There's something that bothers me."

"We're listening, Officer Victoria," Integra prompted.

"The police reports said that no one was harmed. I found that very suspicious due to the large dimensions of the building, Sir, so I checked the documentation of the museum. It no longer belongs to the Spanish government. Two months ago, the surrounding property and it were bought by a private corporation."

"What was the name of the company, Miss Victoria?" enquired Walter.

"The report didn't say; it was only listed."

"They have something to hide." Alucard leant back in his chair. "Silent Noise was never tested; it's very plausible that what we witnessed today was just that. Now, we have something tangible to go on and investigate; well done, Police Girl." Seras smiled, proud of herself. "Now, we need to find out the company's name."

"…Opossums…" mumbled a sleepy voice. At that moment, they realized that at some point during the conversation, Aeryn had rested her head on her arms and fallen asleep on the conference table. To her credit, she was not drooling one bit.

"Father Havel, what time is it?" enquired Walter.

The priest consulted his wristwatch. "It's eleven."

"Oh dear; that's two hours past her bedtime!"

"We're horrible parents," deadpanned Alucard as he walked over to Integra's side of the table and lifted her up, shaking her shoulder lightly. "_**Trezeste-te, copila.**_"

Muzzily, Aeryn blinked. "_**Tatal**_?" She reached for him instinctively and wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in a shoulder with a contented sigh. "_**La revedere, Pãrinte Havel. Fie in siguranta**_." This was somewhat muffled and Father Havel appeared politely confused. "I' m sorry; what did she say to me?"

"She says goodbye and be safe," translated Alucard, shifting Aeryn to a more comfortable position. "Where that bizarre mention of American fauna originated from is anyone's guess; nevertheless, I'm certain that you have heard stranger."

"Please tell her that I wish her the same."

"I will in the morning. A good night to you; we meet with the Vatican tomorrow."

Fortunately, Aeryn showed no signs of suffering the next morning; the amount of time it took for her to get to the kitchen was three minutes, the same as always. However, today, she seemed exceptionally thoughtful. Integra noticed this and decided that it was a good day to find out the young ward's views on religion.

"Aeryn, what do you believe in?"

"Mmph?" Mouth full of egg, Aeryn raised her eyebrows.

"Forgive me; I should have clarified. Your religion."

Aeryn swallowed and picked up an orange slice. "Well, I really believe in this orange, _**Matusa**_. Now, I'm going to eat it and then want another orange." She popped the orange slice in her mouth, chewing it happily and swallowing again.

Integra laughed lightly. "It's good to believe in your food."

"Honestly, I've never really thought about it. Priests would talk at us and then we'd get food and we'd run away when they started to ask troubling questions, began shouting, or tried to convert us. Some priests really hated us; in Italy, I was never slapped or shouted at so much in my life." The child took her plate to the sink. "Some of them were all right, though. They would just give us food and make us promise to check in with them the next time we came through there."

"The business with the rosary…"

"Oh, that?" Aeryn looked slightly embarrassed. "That's tradition, _**Matusa**_, which is another pot of smelly, finned, aquatic dwellers with scales and gills entirely."

"I think you meant a kettle of fish."

"Yes. I really don't believe in much of anything; I was always thinking of food. This way, it's better because you can tell me what I should believe and what I should not. Is that what you want? _**Tatal**_ said it was your decision when I asked."

In the last fifty years, Hellsing had, very much like the rest of the country, become almost secularized. There were soldiers of all ethnicities and religions who worked for them; the prayer that had accompanied missions in the past had all but disappeared. Integra considered this, and then said firmly, "You don't have to believe in anything that you don't want to; it's your choice. It will not matter as long as we keep up appearances; the Round Table does not need to know all."

"That's good." Aeryn swallowed her last mouthful and retrieved the permission form from among her things. "Would you sign this for me? It's for this Thursday."

Glancing over it briefly, Integra took a pen out of her suit pocket and signed it with a flourish. Their liaison with Iscariot was at the same place; however, the two talks were half an hour apart; surely, they would not be delayed too lengthily.

"This way, children! Enlightenment and culture await us!" trumpeted their apparently rejuvenated instructor, herding the throng of schoolchildren inside. The Dartford Museum of Art was medium-sized, but that did not stop people from flocking to view its wonderful paintings. Naturally, after about twenty minutes of their teacher's lecturing, the entire class was bored stiff with no escape in sight.

Lissa stretched. "My dad said once that it was a crime against humanity for the public educational system to ruin art like this. I didn't understand it until now."

"We have portraits at home; they're much more exciting than these landscapes."

"How's that?" She glanced over at Aeryn with the first glimmer of interest shown by any student in the vicinity since one of the kids had pointed out a female nude.

"You can shoot stuff out of the one of Queen Elizabeth the First. Mind you, it can be tricky to get the aim right, but it really surprises them. Walter was so surprised that I'm not allowed to go near it now unless there's a responsible adult around." She paused, and then added pensively, "Shooting at the clock to avoid going to bed might not have been the best idea, now that I have the time to think about it."

It seemed only logical to the teacher to follow the Japanese tourists to see what was being called radical art so the interest of the class would be revived. After all, a friendly police officer was waving them through the exhibit with a flag, blowing her whistle all the way. At the back of the line, Aeryn clapped her hands over her mouth and her eyes went wide. Lissa touched her friend's shoulder. "Need help?"

She nodded and the brunette grinned. "Get to the back of the line; I'll tell the teacher that you went to use the restroom. I expect full details tomorrow."

Aeryn smiled and hugged her gratefully. "You're the best, Lissa."

The two separated and the redhead waited until the crowd dispersed. Suddenly, a much clearer view was available of the situation. Currently, her father stood hatless and glassless with guns drawn and the safeties off between Walter and her aunt, who was wearing, in her opinion, an absolutely hideous black hat. Seras stood with her back to him, facing the three other men whom Aeryn did not recognize but assumed that they were Vatican because of their unusual clothing.

Two of them wore glasses, but there was evidence of prominent showboating, discernible from the shards of glass and lenseless frames on the floor in front of the leader, who had hair so blonde that it was nearly white and purple eyes, the same color as his vest and pants. In short, a bored deity had tried to amuse itself one day by stuffing an angry ferret into a long, violet knee sock with arm holes.

"Judas Priest," Alucard growled portentously and the hairs on the back of Aeryn's neck stood to attention. Discreetly, Seras edged behind her and tugged her back to about an arm's reach away from him, which, considering the length and reach of the elder vampire's arms was not difficult to do without the enemy noticing it.

The tallest one made a show of putting down the silver bayonets he was holding and stowing them away. "Ah. Dinnae. Harm. Children," he rumbled resolutely, his tanned face returning to a more benign expression. The priest in plain black and white breathed a sigh of relief, relieving the presumed manifestation of, in the little Hellsing's opinion, a constipated walrus. Integra acknowledged this temporary truce and motioned to Alucard, who reluctantly stowed away the guns.

She turned to the leader. "You've dragged my niece into this now; are you happy, Maxwell? Neither I nor her godfather expected that you would be two hours late."

The elderly priest, Father Renaldo, looked confused. "Godfather?"

The No-Life King placed a hand on his daughter's shoulder when she disengaged herself from Seras and went over to him. "That would be me."

The jaws of Father Renaldo and Maxwell hit the floor. The other man was the only one who was not surprised and turned to address Alucard. "How old is the lass?" He looked to Integra, who spoke. "Aeryn is seven, Father Anderson. She will have been living with our organization for a month this coming Sunday."

"Oh, Ah see." He knelt to the child's level. "She's a wee bairn."

"No, I'm not a building that you keep livestock in, but that's beside the point." Like a curious sparrow, Aeryn hopped forward lightly and cocked her head at the formerly bayonet-wielding priest. "You're something special, aren't you, _M'sieur_?"

"What would make ye think tha', lassie?"

"You've got purple on your clothes. Romans only used purple dye on ceremonial robes because it was so expensive. Bayonets aren't common weapons, either. I doubt that your leader Maxwell or his assistant does any fighting, just diplomacy."

"You were very close." The clergyman smiled the saccharine expression of one who thought children actually enjoyed being patronized. "My associate here is Father Renaldo and I am Archbishop Enrico Maxwell of Section Thirteen, my dear. What lies has your heathen father told you about our beloved Church?"

"I'm not your dear, Bishop Maxwell, and words like those are a good way to make enemies." The sudden acrimony took him aback. "My father promised that he would never lie to me, and a man who breaks a promise is no longer a man, but a spineless eunuch who hides behind others to conceal his infirmity. I know this because he told me so, but has shared very little, if nothing, about you at all."

Strong gloved fingers tangled themselves in her hair, firmly gripping the back of her neck. The pressure was gentle, but hard enough to remind the young scion that it could change at any minute. Complying with the insistent tug of the cold hand, she stepped away from the archbishop and stood beside its owner.

"Your facility with children is exemplary," stated the vampire dryly. "Unlike you Romans, I believe that my children are capable of forming their own views, regardless if theirs are different from those I have or not. However, your trying behavior is causing me to rethink my methods of instruction. Currently, you are showing her reasons why Bloody Sunday should be reenacted here and now."

Integra cleared her throat. "Maxwell, we are not here to witness my niece illustrate your poor social skills. We are here to discuss the incident in Barcelona that occurred three days ago. Have you spoken with the Anglican Church yet?"

"Aye." Father Anderson ignored Maxwell's palpable displeasure and went on. "Ah agree tha' this is nae ordinary act o' terrorism. It has nae been worshipped in since the late seventeen hundreds; it's the property o' the country and secular."

"Then we are agreed that even though Spain is predominantly Roman Catholic, this goes beyond tension and neither party should endeavor to hinder the other?"

"Yes, but we cannot work with you filthy Protestants," insisted the archbishop.

"You're the one with the greasy hair, mister," Aeryn pointed out, wincing in pain as the hold on her neck constricted stridently. She knew that if she pressed hard between the second and third knuckle, the fist would usually open. Apparently, Alucard must have foreseen that and deliberately tangled his hand in her hair to thwart the thought. She would have glared at him, had she been able to turn her head to the left; it seemed that he would always be one step ahead of her.

"Oh, more than one step, _**copliã mea**_." He laughed quietly. "_**Ȋntotdeauna**_."

Maxwell cleared his throat awkwardly, visibly rattled by the elder vampire. "Yes, well, we should go somewhere more private to discuss the Barcelona incident."

"Perhaps the café will be good enough for you swine?" quipped Integra.

Aeryn quickly stifled her laughter at the expression on his face before he nodded, not daring to speak again for fear of ridicule. Father Anderson sighed and stood. "Director, Ah'm going back tae Edinburgh. Ah don't like tae be away fer too long; we 'ave some new arrivals an' they're still adjusting tae being taken care oof."

"Ah. Of course, Anderson. Children are a heritage from the Lord, after all."

The paladin regarded Integra and Alucard. "Your child, may I bless her?"

They conferred briefly through telepathy; then, he let go of her. "It's up to her, not us." Aeryn shrugged and stepped forward with a touch of hesitation.

Anderson's large hand spanned her head. The fervor with which he prayed was quiet but steadfast; there was no trace of fire or brimstone in him now. She just wished that she could understand the Latin he was saying. Near the very end, she watched his green eyes dart towards her father, and then, he said something in a language that she did not recognize, but knew that her father did when he exhaled. He finished the prayer in Latin and made the sign of the cross over her.

"Thank you." She smiled at him. "I have to go, too. It was nice meeting you." After acknowledging her family members in turn, she glanced back over at Maxwell and Father Renaldo, and dismissed each curtly in Romanian in accordance with the animal metaphors assigned to them prior. She broke into a run once out of sight and managed to make it to the water closets in time.

"Hey, there you are," Lissa greeted her. "Just in time!"

"Hellsing! Barrick!" shrieked the unlucky teacher whose nerves were frayed.

"Coming, miss!" The two shouted in unison as they hurried towards the lobby.

"Well?" Spread-eagled on the floor of the library, Aeryn opened her eyes. It was later in the evening, and she was in her pyjamas. The gang was all there and she had not been addressed until just now, left to lie in a state of contented bliss.

"Well, what?" she asked, still supine.

Integra shook her head. "Aeryn, please sit up. We're talking seriously here about today and you're making it difficult for us to fully concentrate on the task at hand."

"Why?"

"You heard her, _**copliã**_. Up." The toe of Alucard's boot appeared out of the corner of her eye. The young scion remained sedentary and unfazed by it.

Pip decided to give his boss and her vamp a hand. "Hey Alucard, didn't you kick the corpse with that boot last night?" Aeryn had scrambled halfway underneath the couch and was accelerating before Walter managed to catch hold of the collar of her shirt and pull her out. "Really, did you have to say that to her?"

"It got her moving, didn't it?" Ignoring his adopted daughter's pointed glowering, he continued. "While you were off in your own universe, we were discussing the events at the museum. We have reason to believe that Anderson is becoming disillusioned with the church and that something deeper has been happening. Did you pick up on anything when you spoke with him and were prayed over?"

"I'm only seven years old; what would I know?"

He scoffed. "Only seven years old? If I ever hear you tell such a blatant lie again, _**copilã**_,__you'll feel the back of my hand against your head. With talk like that, we might as well send you straight to bed now." Immediately, she paled and acted.

"He hung on," she averred before any farther action bedward could be taken. "After he finished making the sign of the cross, he didn't let go right away. His eyes and tone of voice were sad whenever he looked at me or talked to me, too."

"Hmm." Integra glanced over at Alucard. "That confirms the theory that you voiced earlier. What did he say to you again and what language was it in?"

"The language was Coptic Greek, something that only a Bible scholar would be able to understand. Since there was a large Byzantine influence in my era and where I lived, I knew it. Maxwell didn't; his profile shows that he neglected his early language studies. Anderson said to me that the devil was in the air."

"So, you think that he lost a child?"

"No, I know that he lost a child. Whether he lost more than one and the circumstances remain to be seen, but of that, I could not be more certain."

Pip leaned forward. "How can you be so sure?"

"When I was human, I had three sons. The youngest was terminally ill." He looked away, his voice quieter. "I was killed in battle before Mihai died."

Aeryn wriggled out of Walter's grip and, coming over, crawled up into the nosferatu's lap and hugged him hard. "_**Vă mulţumesc, iubită**_." He patted her back and stood. "I think that we should discuss what to do later tonight, after we've had time to think about the best course of action that we should take."

Midway towards the door, the little girl realized what he was doing and began to struggle. "Hey, let me go! You meant to do this; you tricked me into coming!"

"You should have gotten down when I went to stand up. Next time, you'll know."

"You didn't make it clear that you were going to leave!"

"Rubbish; I made myself perfectly clear. You have poor intuition."

"I do not, you tyrant!"

"Then since I'm a tyrant, I can do this." He turned her upside down. Aeryn squeaked in a mixture of surprise and fear. "Choose your words carefully now. Tyrants are drunk on power; they might misunderstand the simplest requests."

"Please turn me right side up and set me on my feet before we reach the stairs."

"So, you do listen now and again." He granted her request without delay.

Seras watched them go. "Sir, should he be doing that?"

"It's fine." Integra lit a cigar. "A month ago, he could have never done that with her; she would have never come near him or any of us again. This is progress."

Pip stretched. "Leon flies in tomorrow; should I bring him here to the barracks?"

"That will be fine. I'm sure that meeting him will be quite interesting."

First time I've ever had to bring my work to school. *Laughs* Ah well, now we can move on. I've got a good chapter planned for Halloween.

REVIEWS O KUDASAI!


	7. Interlude! Translations Added

Skye: Hallo! This is long overdue, I know. So, I lied about the Halloween chapter being the next one; that will be the one after the chapter I'm currently working on. Some time ago, I promised that there would be a reward if you guessed the mystery crossover that I'm currently doing with this story. Well, I have found it! Whoever guesses it first shall have a oneshot written by me on anything they want, as long as it's not too crackish for me to work with. SilverMissi is exempt from this because I consulted her before working in the crossover, but not to worry! She will be receiving a oneshot as soon as she gets back to me about confirming the story.

Just a reminder about the adding AxI debate; let me know your feelings if you haven't already! I can't post until you do.

_French_

_Une petite fille_-a little girl

_Mignonette_-In French, _mignon_ means cute, and when I asked my French teacher about it, she said that it would probably translate as 'cutie'. Pip's pet name for Seras.

"_La vie sur les rues est dur, eh, fille?"_-Life on the streets is hard, eh, girl?

"_Qu'est-ce tu sais?"_-Should be sais instead of fais. It means, "What do you know?"

"_Qu'est-ce je sais?"_-Should be sais instead of fais. It means, "What do I know?"

_Je ne suis pas riche_.-I'm not rich.

_Je suis un orphelin, comme toi._-I'm an orphan, like you.

_Ma fille-_My girl. Common French term of endearment.

"_Bonne nuit, ma fille. Dormis bien._"-Should be bonne instead of bon. It means, "Good night, my girl. Sleep well."

_Et toi_-And you

_Mon Dieu_-My God

_Bon matin_-Good morning

_Ouais_-Yeah

_Je vois_-I see

_Monsieur_-Mister

_Toujours_-always

_Non_-no. You should know this if you've watched the fourth OVA.

_Tsigane_-The Romani people, more commonly known as gypsies.

_Alors_-Well,

_Merde_-Shit

_M'sieur_-Bastardization of '_Monsieur_'. Often used informally.

_**Romanian**_

(Most of these have been corrected from their original form. It just goes to show that you should never completely put your trust in translators; they're only a quick fix at best, but Romanian is hard to find and the beautiful language has so many damn accents and little thingies that go under or over the letters.)

_**Scaun**_-chair

_**Masă**_-table

_**Nu**_-No

_**Podea**_-floor

_**Vin aici la mine acum, una micuţa**_-"Come here to me now, little one."

_**Vin aici, micuţa mea una.**_-"Come here, my little one."

_**Unchi**_-uncle

_**Bună**_-good

_**Mătusă**_-aunt

_**Da**_-yes

_**Frate**_-brother

_**Soră**_-sister

_**Rude prin alianţă**_-in-laws

_**Tatăl**_-father

_**Monstru**_-monster

_**Vampir**_-vampire

_**Dracula**_-Self-explanatory. Expect an explanation for this moniker later in the story.

_**Tati**_-Daddy

_**Du-te vezi Walter, copilă.**_-"Go see Walter, child."

_**Vrei sa ma la crestereii gama dupa**_?-"Can you take me to the shooting range later?"

_**Poate că**_-"Maybe so."

_**Vom vedea**_-"We'll see."

_**Sunt fie de te doare**_-"Are you hurt?"

_**Nu, ei nun e-a durut**_-"No, neither of us were hurt."

_**Copilă**_-child

_**E bine**_-"It's all right."

_**Eu sint alaturi de dumneata**_-"I am beside you."

_**Tu esti in siguranta**_-"You are safe."

_**Micuţa mea una**_-my little one

_**prietenul meu**_-my friend

_**Iubită**_-sweetheart

_**Inchide ochii**_-"Close your eyes."

_**Sint aici**_-"We're here."

_**Ai mai deschide ochii acum**_-"You can open your eyes now."

_**Bun**_-Good

_**Va las sa mergem**_-"Let's go."

_**Acum, sa va vedem sale argint destul de ochii tai**_-"Now, let's see those pretty silver eyes of yours."

_**Ce este**_-"What is it?"

_**Eu te iubesc**_-"I love you."

_**Hei**_-Hey

_**Eu te iubesc de asemenea, dragă mea**_-"I love you, too, my dear."

_**Bunã ziua**_-Good afternoon

_**Trezeste-te**_-"Wake up."

_**La revedere**_-Goodbye

_**Pãrinte**_-Father when referring to a priest

_**Fie in siguranta**_-"Be safe."

_**Copliã mea**_-My child

_**Ȋntotdeauna**_- Always

_**Vă mulţumesc**_-Thank you

That should be all of them. If I've forgotten one, please ask me in a review and I will answer your question. Don't forget to tell me how you feel on the AxI issue if you haven't already and drop me a line if you've guessed the mystery crossover.


	8. Among The Dead

Skye: Hello everyone! Just a few notes before the chapter. I have made my decision with your help and this story will be AxI, BUT, it will not interfere grossly with the plot. For those of you who are AxS fans, it will be featured as a side pairing in an upcoming oneshot that is my gift to SilverMissi, who I consulted on some matters concerning the crossover/integration. Oh, and I'm sorry I lied; the Halloween chapter will be the next one.

Vlad Dracula supposedly had anywhere from two to four children; the question is still widely debated because it is easy to confuse him with his father, but the authorities Raymond T McNally and Radu Florescu claim that he had three. The name of his third, sickly, son is unknown and he did survive his father, dying of tuberculosis in the presence of his mother sometime later. All of the statistics that are on Brazil and human trafficking in this chapter are real, as are the weapons used and the background about _tsiganes_. I had to guess on the wounds because I was unable to find a historical record of the injuries one could obtain.

_French_

_**Romanian**_

"_Tsigane foutu_!"

Aeryn jerked abruptly upward. Hyperventilating, her hands clutched the navy duvet, every fiber of her body standing to attention. When her breathing had calmed down, she wiped off the sweat beaded on her forehead and climbed out of bed. Donning an old fleece sweatshirt of Seras's that was now used as a dressing gown, she padded to the large window. The men had just returned from a mission; she could see them unloading the vehicles near the armory. That gave her fifteen minutes to get to the basement, which, if they dallied as always and had a few drinks, would be just enough time.

There was a dumbwaiter in the room. She had read books about brilliant young children who lived in old Victorian houses, sometimes at said time period, and had all sorts of fantastic adventures due to the miraculous invention. To plumb the depths of its properties, she enlisted the help of Seras, who had read the same novels. Neither of them had taken into account, however, the rotting of wood, decay of rope, and the rusting of pulleys after at least seventy-five years without use. Both covered in dust from head to foot, they were discovered by a disgruntled Walter, who boarded it up while the two bathed after giving them a long lecture. The fact that the two were so dusty, they had left trails gave her plenty of reason to ignore the wretched, dilapidated antique.

The back staircase would be much quicker. It had rained buckets her third week in England; Aeryn had spent it exploring the house during the afternoons and weekend. Inspired by the myth of Theseus fighting the Minotaur in the Labyrinth, she would tie the end of a ball of twine to something and set off, eventually finding her way back by following and collecting it. Without further ado, she anchored the string and set off.

She went quickly, skipping two or three stairs at a time, her pace never slowing. Walter had assured her plenty of times that she was among friends and perfectly safe; however, theory and practice were two different things. She passed the door to Seras's room and the hallway that led to the locked part of the basement which no one went in and was forbidden to go. So far, she had not been told why and had no intention of asking; the archives were more appealing than what was behind some dumb old door.

Aeryn gently pushed open the door to her adopted father's room. He never locked it; few came down here and none would dare to steal his possessions. The coffin lay hidden from prying eyes; she had a sneaking suspicion that it moved itself. One of her training exercises was to find it. His chair was in the center of the room, which was, according to Integra, a waste of space. A table with two wine glasses, a bottle, and a few other odds and ends sat to the right of the chair. She sat on the floor, back against its front, and hugged her knees to her chest. Shivering, she drew the green jacket closer, glad that it was warm and came down past her knees, not thinking of putting the hood over her head for warmth. Idly, she wondered whether she should have checked the clock or brought slippers, but was pushed out of her extra thoughts as footsteps sounded a yard to the right of the door.

"You should be asleep." The tall figure of Alucard appeared in the doorway. He was slightly surprised when his adopted daughter did not make the usual beeline in order to fling herself at him and launch an assault on his knees after loudly shouting his name.

"I was, then," Aeryn shrugged in a failed attempt to be nonchalant. "_Tsigane foutu_."

"Ah." The No-Life King hung his hat and duster on a nearby stand and dried his hair with a towel that hung from the latter. "You do realize that the chair is there to be sat on?"

"Yes, but that's where you sit," she stated firmly, shying away from him and inwardly cursing herself for doing so. He caught her under the arms before she could move any farther and drew her to him as he sat down. On nights like these, it took more than the usual amount of coaxing, which was almost nonexistent, to persuade her to come to him. She had called it weakness while Alucard's cynical and pragmatic mind called it sense. It mattered little either way; few could resist him and Aeryn was no exception.

"_**Tatǎl**_, why is there never blood on your clothes when you come home?" She examined the back of his gloves conscientiously, feigning curiosity to hide her prior display of fear.

"They all turn into dust once the heart of the target is removed. They don't leave paths like two curious children of mine." Aeryn wrinkled her nose at him and he tapped it. "Maybe next time you'll listen to reason, _**nu**_? But that is of no importance to us now." The nosferatu caught the hood before she could pull it over her face and yanked it up. "Tell me what you dreamt that caused you to come down here once again,_** copilǎ**_."

"The dream was the same as the last time,_** Tatǎl**_," she said solemnly, lowering her gaze to stare determinedly at the back of her hands, tracing the pattern of a cross on her left, her free hand shaking faintly. Reaching around and under with his right hand, he steadily forced her chin up until satisfied. "_**Utila-te la mine, dragǎ mea**_," he said gently.

She continued. "There were always a few of them that thought I was bad luck and blamed me when things went wrong. Gunari, the head of the caravan, kept them at bay. I wasn't treated differently than the other children, but I stayed with him and his family because I didn't have parents. At the last minute, we had to change our plans and go to the _centre _of France instead of _Auvergne_, which would have been the safer place. We ended up in the village of _Péquenot _after the pilgrimage to _Saint-Maries-de-la-Mer_."

The vampire shifted position. "For Saint Sarah?"

"_Ouais_. They hated us from the start; most of the shops refused to serve us. There were a few people who felt differently and helped us out, but most of them looked down on us, like the _curé_. A few weeks in, he accused us of stealing the church's silver chalice. His men started a riot and the local police had to step in. Just after they arrived and were calming things down…" Aeryn trailed off and began drawing the cross again.

He caught her wrists with his left hand. "The soldiers came?"

"They started firing into the crowd and everyone panicked. I could hear them laughing; they didn't speak French and thought that the frightened voices sounded funny. Gunari pushed me out of the mob and told me to run away. Just as they came my way, I ran…"

Faintly relieved that he did not have to go to the trouble of sprouting a third limb after a miserable night, Alucard stated, "There was nothing that you could have done to better the situation. He knew that you had to survive and did what he could to keep you that way. There is no reason for you to feel guilt over obeying him and fleeing the scene." He paused, watching her hands shake. "But it doesn't help you, does it, _**micuţa mea una**_?"

Releasing his adopted daughter and turning her to face outward, he concentrated as shadows started forming in his right hand. Intrigued, Aeryn watched as the bird's-eye view of a scene formed. She immediately identified herself and the man whose lap she was currently seated on, but it took a few minutes for the rest of the four to click. Her eyes widened when she recognized the other men in the picture. "_La première nuit_?"

"Indeed." He laughed lightly when the image distorted at her hesitant touch. "It's only a picture; it can't hurt you. But that's not the perspective I want." He focused and the representation warped of its own accord, widening to accommodate a broader perception. Now, the forest from which the hit men emerged was visible, along with the multitude of guns that were pointed at them. Aeryn gasped. "The Wild Geese?"

"All were present. The captain was reluctant to let the mercenaries in at first, but he understood once I explained it. You were shown that you were safe and that you always are with me, but a safeguard never hurt anyone. One snap of my fingers and they would have been shot down." He relaxed and it vanished, the shadows flowing back into him.

Aeryn thought for a moment. "Where I found you…that was a decoy, wasn't it?"

"Yes. An old facility that we used in the sixties. It was…convenient." His eyes were distant now, one hand playing with her hair. Aeryn decided that she did not like this turn of events after a long day with what she thought a prominently high lack of paternal affection and tugged abruptly on his sleeve. "_**Tǎti**_! _Où est-ce tu va_? _Fais-moi attention!_"

"Only a month and a week and you're this demanding?" The fog clouding his eyes cleared and a smirk crossed his face as he regarded her expression of censure.

"A month and a week is a long time," she muttered sullenly, batting his fingers away.

"I didn't say you could do that." Alucard frowned down at the head of red hair nestled in the hollow of his collarbone as he moved his hand still holding the hair out of her reach. She reached for it, leaning out too far, and yelped when she almost lost her balance. Glaring at the offending hand, she resumed her earlier position snuggled against him.

"You give up too easily," he said without resentment as he flicked it back at her face. Stroking her back with his left hand, her body relaxed and went limp. He carefully gathered her back into his arms before he stood once again. "Come on, _**iubită**_. You have a busy day tomorrow. It would be better for us all if you were well rested."

Aeryn mumbled a half protest against his chest but let the matter lie. Alucard floated up through the floors until he reached the right level and proceeded to her room. "By the way, why does the library smell like smoke and what are those ashes in the fireplace?" He set her down on the bed and sat down beside her, pulling the covers over the child.

"_**Mătusă**_'s hat," Aeryn said simply, recalling the memory. Walter and she were alone in the house along with Pip and the Wild Geese until the others came home from negotiations at seven o'clock. Ten minutes later, Integra received a call that informed her of a group of vampires terrorizing Ipswich. Naturally, it required a full-scale operation and within a matter of minutes, Alucard, Seras, Pip, and the Geese had moved out and were on their way. Whining and being petulant was not in Aeryn's nature, but she watched them go wistfully. Integra then took her upstairs with her.

After changing into a more casual suit, the knight had examined her reflection critically in the full-length mirror hung on the door of her walk-in closet and said, "This hat deserves to be burned, doesn't it?" Her niece had emphatically agreed, wondering whether her aunt would actually go through with it. Retreating to the library, Integra had poured some lighter fluid on the eyesore and ignited it with her lighter. The woman and the girl had watched the flames burn in a silent communion. Five minutes later, Aeryn became conscious of the fact that both of their lips, moving in silent prayer, were mutely voicing the same impassioned request. "Bring him home."

"Leon, you crazy asshole!" Pip pounded his long-gone friend on the back while Aeryn and Lissa observed this curious ritual of greeting. "I haven't seen you since Uganda!"

"_Ouais_, and your face is still just as ugly, _mon ami_!" Leon Pissenlit returned the favor. He was as dark as Djamel, with shoulder length black hair and russet eyes. He stood a little taller than Pip, but it did not bother the captain at all. "So, when do I meet them?"

"Well, there's one." Pip pointed to Lissa, who waved at them politely. "She's their kid."

"Who's the other one?"

"That's our _fille_, the boss's niece who came to live with us a while ago. I wrote you about that, remember? Or is the brain damage from that concussion in the jungle acting up?"

Leon scoffed. "My head is just fine."

"Pip, when are we going inside?" asked Aeryn.

"Now. Come on." The Frenchman grabbed Leon's duffel bag with one hand and led the way to the barracks. They went into a spare room and he set the luggage on the bed. "That stays there. The Barricks are going to put you up at their place if this goes well."

"It'll be nice to be somewhere without worrying about getting mugged or shot at, not that it's a problem for me." He grinned at the two little girls who watched him inquisitively. "Honduras is a nice place to visit, but you never want to live there. _Comprenez-vous_?"

Aeryn frowned. "What's wrong with your French, _M'sieur_? It sounds different."

Pip grinned. "That's because he's not really French, _ma fille_. Leon comes from Canada."

"Quebec," retorted Leon pointedly. "But I spent summers there with my grandparents. Don't let this cunning frog fool you _filles_. _Moi, je suis français_, in my soul!" He thumped his heart proudly with his right hand. "I just talk another way than the rest of you do."

"Oh, okay." Aeryn nodded.

"Shouldn't we be going?" Lissa asked. "Mister Leon still has to meet him."

"Him?" Leon, puzzled, looked to Pip.

"You're right; he has to meet our big man on base," agreed the real Frenchman without missing a beat and regarded Aeryn. "When does your godfather get up, _ma belle_?"

"Around four-thirty or five, I think. I've never gone down wake him up."

"Why?" Leon asked as they went.

"He said when someone rouses a sleeping dragon, it's often their first and last time."

The two men let the girls lead out and onward to the atrium of the house as the perplexed Quebecois mercenary turned to his long-standing friend. "So, what's this guy's deal? What's he like? I know that your men don't respect just any _bourgeois_."

"He's not like anyone else you've ever met before, a hard man to put into words."

"Sensitive about his size? Is he short and that's why you call him a big man?"

"Not exactly." Unbeknownst to the two men when they stopped, Alucard had quietly appeared in the corner of the room and placed a finger to his lips to hush the girls when they went to greet him. Lissa could not see him until Aeryn had pointed him out; the nosferatu had a talent that bordered on miraculous for fading into the foreground without actively concealing himself. So far, the young scion had yet to figure out how he did it.

Pip, whose time at Hellsing had given him a far more developed sense of the supernatural than his entire family tree combined, paused. "Leon, we should stop."

"Why? I don't see anything wrong here."

"Yes, do go on," drawled the vampire, detaching himself from the shadows and seeming to grow twice his size. "It is enlightening to learn how one is perceived by others." The unlucky mercenary paled and swallowed, taking a step back as he was loomed over.

"Poor guy," Aeryn murmured to Lissa, hurriedly turning it into a cough just in case.

Alucard removed his sunglasses and they disappeared into his duster, never taking his scarlet eyes off Leon as his gaze bored into and scrutinized every fiber of his being. After forty seconds, he seemed satisfied and let his daunting expression relax slightly.

"Why is he still trying to scare Mister Leon?" whispered Lissa.

"He isn't; he just has very subtle facial expressions," Aeryn replied inaudibly.

"What's that mean?"

"Dunno, that's what Walter said."

"Proper grammar please, miss," the butler chided as he came to stand with them. "Your parents are here, Miss Barrick; I thought that you would like to know in case you were planning any shenanigans for later this evening." He sighed. "Are you done, Alucard?"

The former shrugged. "Don't take that tone with me; I haven't eaten him yet. You may have him to do with as you please, Angel of Death. We'll entertain the guests."

"This way please, Mister Leon." The former gratefully followed him upstairs.

"He did better than the social worker last week." Pip mused aloud. "Right?"

"Yes, he did," the elder man confirmed. "He certainly has a chance at it."

"Social worker?" Lissa looked to Aeryn, who explained. "I'm not officially theirs. It takes six months for an adoption to be permanent, so we have to wait for…how long is it?"

"Four months and three weeks," said Pip, following them to the drawing room.

"Yeah, that long. The lady comes and visits me every month to see how I'm doing."

"What's she like?"

"To tell you the truth, no one likes her."

"She asked too many damn questions," rumbled Alucard from behind them. "You're happy, healthy, taken care of and educated; what more does the wretch want from us?"

Both Barricks were on the loveseat when they entered, Naomi reclining and Kaelan gripping the arm as a drowning man would a log. Alucard, being nearest to the door, turned about and left, reappearing a few moments later with a mug of coffee in his hand.

Kaelan opened his mouth, but he dismissed his concerns. "Drink first, and then talk."

The knight took the cup and did so, color returning to his face. "Thank you."

"It's nothing. How is the search going?"

"You have no idea how many churches there are in this country. We've checked every single bell, but so far, nothing. We've spent the whole week traveling back and forth."

Pip raised an eyebrow. "We?"

"Lissa was at home with the staff and some of the officers who volunteered to guard us until we find a bodyguard," Naomi elucidated. "Schoolwork always comes first for Liss."

"Muuumm," groaned Lissa at the use of her pet name and rolled her eyes at Aeryn.

"Good evening, everyone." Integra entered the room with Walter following suit. Leon trailed behind them, looking less confident than when he had first arrived at Hellsing and more than a bit awkward. "Please excuse our tardiness; I was explaining the nature of the interview."

"You must be Mister Pissenlit. I am Sir Kaelan Barrick. " The commissioner leaned forward as the lady knight perched on the couch between the No-Life King and the mercenary and offered his hand. "Though our records given from the Honduran police show that you were known as Leon Garcia de Asturias. Why the variation in name?"

"Protection. Most mercs don't use their real names." Leon shook it. "Unless you're Pip, whose family has been in the business for eight generations and has a solid reputation."

The Frenchman smirked at the two little girls, who were considerably more impressed than they had been earlier with Leon's attempt to win them over. "Something, eh?"

"Yeah, yeah. It won't win you any medals for brains, _mon ami_," the other grumbled and was punched hard in the arm by the offended party. "I do a good business down there. My father was Spanish, so no one questions me when I tell them my _nom de la guerre_."

"Name of the train station?" questioned the head of Hellsing.

Pip shook his head. "No, sir; that's a common mistake. It means name of war."

"Oh, an alias. I see."

"I understand that you brought your own weapons with you, Sir?" queried Lady Barrick. She smiled at him gently. "I am Naomi Barrick and this is our only daughter, Lissa."

"We've met and _ouais_, I do. Good stuff, too; not something that took a blacksmith half an hour with a cheap piece of steel." Leon beamed at the mention of weaponry. "I brought them with me in my bag. Customs wasn't too happy about that, though."

"In my experience, they never are," replied Sir Integra. "Shall we go upstairs?"

Kaelan set down the empty cup of coffee on the end table and stood. "Certainly. Captain Bernadette, will you be joining us as well upstairs for the interview?"

He nodded and Integra turned to address her niece. "Aeryn, please wake Seras and then help Walter in the kitchen. Be sure to brief her on what she has missed today."

"Lissa, you help your friend," added Lady Barrick.

Both girls confirmed the affirmative and left. Leon watched them go. "They're sweet."

"Good children," assented Walter.

"It makes the news I have to tell you harder." He cleared his throat as a grim expression crossed his face. "It's about what happened in Barcelona. Can it wait until this ends?"

Integra breathed deeply and exhaled. "Yes, Mister Pissenlit, I believe that it can."

Dinner was pleasant, though the adults exchanged glances throughout the entire meal. Alucard had disappeared before it began, claiming that he needed to ensure that his fledgling drank her blood. Needless to say, the draculina was upset when she heard the actual briefing and not the excited and benign news that had been delivered before. "What does this mean, Master?" She brushed her bangs away from her face.

"It could be anything or it could be nothing. For now, we should be cautious, but not overtly anxious." He sat sideways on one of the chairs at the little table in her room.

Seras replaced the brush on the vanity and stood up from the stool she had sat on, straightening her uniform carefully. "Well, of course, we must keep calm and carry on."

"Where did you hear that?" He opened the door and shut it behind her.

"My father always used to say it. Why?"

"It was a propaganda phrase used during World War II to lift British morale." He led the way up the stairs. "It's not very well known today, but it floated around for a while."

No sooner had they reached the top of the stairs and headed outside, they heard a small voice question, "So, you throw the metal rings at people and their heads are cut off?"

"No, no; it takes more force to do that. And they're called chakrams," explicated Leon. "You can also put them on your hands and use them like brass knuckles."

"These are Indian weapons?" Sir Barrick examined one of them cautiously.

"Yes, sir."

"I'm not sure that I understand how they work."

"Perhaps a demonstration is in order?" The lady knight picked up the other chakram and waited until her vampires had come within range, which was about two hundred feet. "Officer Victoria, come and get behind me, quickly," she instructed. "Alucard, stand still."

Seras hustled over and assumed the position. Integra curved back her arm and threw, the hoop sailing towards her servant and accelerating with every second it flew. It cut through the sleeve of his coat and shirt, leaving a deep gash in his upper arm, and then glided on to stick itself in a tree, a metallic twang resounding as it vibrated to a stop.

Leon closed his mouth. "How did you learn to use those?"

"I spent summers with my relatives in India when I was a little girl." Unable to keep the grin off her face, she beckoned her injured vampire to them. "I try to go back and visit whenever I am able. Don't heal that arm yet, Alucard," she commanded once he reached them, pointing out the wound. "If you examine it closely, you can see that it has cut right down to the bone."

"Such morbid children we have here," commented the injured dryly as both stood on tiptoe to examine it. "This is what prolonged exposure to Hellsing does to one's mind."

"Doesn't it hurt, Integra?" Lady Barrick looked somewhat pained.

"Lady Barrick, Alucard voluntarily makes Swiss cheese of himself each night. This is nothing to him." Sure enough, the tissue was knitting itself together and within ten seconds, the skin was unmarred and as it had been before the injury. "How is it?"

"Fine." The aforementioned used his left hand to crack his shoulder and addressed the soon to be bodyguard with a knowing smirk. "_Allez-vous bien, Monsieur Leon_?"

He turned to Pip and spoke rapidly in French, so quickly that the others had trouble picking out words. "He says that this is a lot to take in and that he didn't really believe me or you all until now. He wants to know why I wasn't allowed to tell him this earlier so he could adjust to the shock," Pip translated. "Alucard?"

"Not up to me." He raised an eyebrow at Integra. "Master?"

"Two weeks before we hired you, Captain Bernadette, there was a leak in our security and the mansion was assaulted while a conference was going on. Most of our forces were killed; the only eight soldiers who survived were on leave." Integra closed her eyes briefly. "Nothing has happened since then, but we have yet to find out who caused the leak and why. We have our suspicions, but so far, there has been no conclusive proof. Therefore, we must be constantly vigilant and keep what we learn under the table."

After the explanation was converted into French, Leon nodded. "Should we go to your office and talk about what I said earlier now?"

"Wossat?" Seeing the clearly disgusted look on Walter's face at her horrible diction, Aeryn quickly changed her wording. "I mean, what's that?" She felt that his antipathy was unfair; she was trying her hardest to assimilate to the culture of England and there was nothing more British than slang like "Wossat?" and "Innit?", which she was still endeavoring to get the placement of. This progress was also hampered by the fact that most of the Geese were French or a different culture altogether. She would have stuck out like a sore thumb had it not been for Seras, whose frequent use of the expression "Bugger off!", often directed angrily at the captain, had gotten her off to a good start.

"Budgets, money, boring stuff like that," said Pip disinterestedly. "Nothing good to talk about." He made a face. "I don't see why I have to be there for it; it's not my thing."

"Then your paycheck will be the first thing that we cut should Hellsing ever fall on hard times," stated Integra calmly. "Why don't you two go watch Labyrinth? The remote is sitting on the coffee table on top of 'The Economist' and the VCR should be plugged in."

Visibly more excited about this than the prospect of grown up talk, Lissa and Aeryn went past the sputtering, outraged Pip and into the mansion. He waited for the slam of the door before he stopped and grinned. "Some good acting, huh, sir? They didn't blink."

"A David Suchet, you are not, Captain. Now, let's get this ghastly business over with."

"I worked with the law a lot, as you know." Leon placed a locked attaché on the desk. "Before my work brought me to Honduras, I spent some time with the Brazilian police."

"They have a problem with almost everything, don't they?" asked Kaelan. "I read a few days ago that Brazil is in the top twenty countries by international homicide rate."

"The system has its flaws, as they do everywhere," commented Walter, examining the combination lock on the briefcase carefully. "What did they have you doing, Mister Pissenlit?"

"Mostly, I worked with the unit responsible for human trafficking cases and there were a lot. It's a source and transit country. The traffickers are brutal to their captives and hate it when things go wrong." He turned the wheel three times and the lock sprung open. "We were called to bust a house in the favelas, the slums there. This is what we found."

A series of enlarged photos depicted the inside of a small house. The walls were smeared with dirt and excrement. The emaciated corpses of several children lay lifeless on the bloody floor, each with their throats slit. A few of them had struggled; one boy's arm was bent at an odd angle and the tip of a femur jutted out of a girl's leg. In age, they ranged from about nine to thirteen years old.

"No wonder you locked it." Seras shuddered as Pip put a protective arm round her waist. For once, she did not react violently with her fists or attempt to push him away.

Alucard picked up one of the prints to examine it more closely. "Were they violated?"

"Some of the older girls were. The younger ones and the boys were left alone. We think that they transported the other half before we got the call and prepared to go in." He extracted some files and handed one of them to the police chief. "Here's the report."

He took it and scanned it over, his wife reading over his shoulder.

"Mister Pissenlit, this is of vital importance to the police." Integra cleared her throat. "But what does it have to do with our organization? We do not interfere with the law at all."

"Sir, I'd heard rumors about your organization, even before Pip joined and wrote me." Leon folded his arms. "Though your thing is keeping the country safe from the undead, I've heard stuff about diplomatic missions, Nazis, assassinations…"

The elder vampire, butler, and their mistress exchanged glances, but said nothing.

"We did serve our country in the Second World War and do play the diplomat on occasion, but you should put such imprudent notions as assassination out of your head," said Walter firmly. "Hellsing is first and foremost based here. Our work with the Church of England is a different story; that is at the behest of Her Majesty, the Queen. It's also private. Now, what does this have to do with the incident in Barcelona?"

"The house was a source, not a destination. We found in the papers of the perps that they took them to Spain and handed them over at a hotel that wasn't far from the art museum that was destroyed. We think that there's a chance that they're connected because the men vanished after it went down and no one's found a trace of them."

"Well, that's not entirely unfounded." Naomi inspected one of the men's files. "What are the nationalities of the perpetrators and the children? Are they all South American?"

"That's the thing, _Madame_." Leon loosened the collar of his shirt nervously. "They're not. Some of the traffickers are skinheads and half of the victims who were trafficked are Romani kids. _Tsiganes_, you know? There's a population there over six hundred thousand."

"Walter, do you know where Father Havel is currently staying?" Integra dug for a cigar in her desk drawer and found it. "We must inform the Anglicans of this new development."

"He is currently still in Spain, which is an hour ahead of us. I shall call him immediately after the guests leave and make sure that he gets copies of everything, if that's all right with Mister Pissenlit here." He received a nod of assent as he lit his mistress's cigar.

Alucard glanced over at his fledgling. "Police girl?"

"I'll be fine, master." She smiled weakly.

"Good. You both understand that none of this leaves the room?"

"Yes, sir." Pip gave him a thumbs up. "_La_ _fille_ gets nothing out of us."

A moment of silence settled itself over the room. From downstairs, they heard loud, off-key singing and faint, arrhythmic thumps that were the girls' attempts at dancing like magic. The palpable tension relaxed and the inhabitants of the room shook their heads. Seras voiced what all of them were thinking, the tension draining out of her expression.

"If we confront our enemies with that, they'll surrender without delay."

This is now the second time I've had to take my work to school with me. Thanks for reading. Don't forget to leave a review on the way out!


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